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HARVARD COLLEGE 
LIBRARY 



* 



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THE HISTORY 



OF 



BLYTH, 

FEOM THE NORMAN CONQTJEST TO THE 
PRESENT DAY. 



BY 

JOHN WALLACE. 



SECOND EDITION, 

REVISED AND CONSIDERABLY ENLARGED. 

TOGETHER WITH 

AN APPENDIX. 

ENTERED AT STATIONERS' HALL. 

BLYTH: 
JOHN ROBINSON, JUN.. PRINTER AND PUBLISHER. 

1869. 



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/ 



^-r ^\«^-i.n7 



HARVARD COLLEGE LIBRARY 

JUL 271920 

GIFT 0.' 

WILLIAM ENDICGTT.JR. 



BLYTH : 
PRINTED BT J. R0BlN80!f, JUJf,, 

17, Freehold Street 



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TO THX 

RIGHT HONOURABLE 

SIR GEORGE GREY, BARONET, 

FALLODEN, NOETHTJMBEELAND, 

THE FIRST EEPEESBNTATIVE IN PARUaMENT OF THE 

BOROUGH OF MORPETH, 

AFTEK THE INCORPORATION THEREWITH FOR PARLIAMENTAKT 
PURPOSES, OF THE TOWNSHIPS OF 

SOUTH BLYTH AND NEWSHAM, and COWPEN, 
THIS SECOND EDITION OF THE 

HISTORY OF BLTTH 

18, WITH SENTIMENTS OF SINCERE ESTEEM, MOST RESPECTFULLY, 
AND BY PERMISSION, DEDICATED, BY 

THE PUBLISHER. 

JBlt/th, Dteemb§r 20th, 1861. 



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PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION. 

Encouraged by the favourable reception accorded to 
the former edition of this work, the writer has prepared 
a new and enlarged edition ; thus endeavouring to make 
the book still more worthy of public favour. Several 
interesting facts that have turned up in the course of the 
author's researches have been incorporated in the body 
of the book, while a number of minor events that there 
is reason to believe the Blyth public would not willingly 
see pass unrecorded have been put into the appendix, in 
chronological order. Several other matters are placed 
in the appendix, which it is hoped will give greater 
completeness to the History of Blyth. The great and 
long-continued depression in the trade of the locality 
has caused the question to be somewhat anxiously 
proposed as to what are the future prospects of Blyth 
as a place of business. We think Blyth's grand 
opportunity for enlargeraent has been lost. Had 
measures been taken to provide accommodation at 
Blyth for the new trade that was springing up when 
the steam coal field was first opened out, by this time 
it would have been what its position and other ad- 
vantages pointed it out to be — ^the port of shipment of the 
steam coal of the district ; and this very much to the 
benefit of those engaged in the trade : the saving in 
leadage alone would not only have met the cost of the 
necessary improvement of the harbour, but have left 
over and above a handsome per centage towards the 
coalowners' profits. But though Blyth may never 
become a large and prosperous town, nor its port iak%^ 



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Tl 

lank among those of the first class, yet there is ne 
reason to fear but that it will continue to go on gradually 
to increase in the future as it has done in the past, 
always affording a fair field for the industry and 
enterprize of its inhabitants. 

JOHN WALLACE. 
Blyth, Dec, 22nd, 1869. 



PUBLISHEE'S PEEFACE. 

I beg to inform the General Public tJiat I have by 
purchase from the Author y become the^ sole Proprietor of 
the Copyright of the work or publication, entitled THE 
HISTOEY OF BLTTH, all rights in connexion vnth 
which are reserved, and protected in conformity with the 
Law of Copyright 

The First Edition was published 7 Years ago and is 
noic sold out. The present Edition has been prepared 
for the press by the Author, and besides being printed 
from a beautiful New Type purchased expressly for it, 
the Work mil be found to be considerably enlarged. 

It is almost needless to state that a Work of this 
nature — the circulation of which is necessarily limited — 
cannot be produced except at a cost comparatively heavy. 
The price, however, has been kept down to 3s., and it i* 
hoped the sale will be sufficient to justify the production 
of the Book, and obviate any loss to the Publisher. 

JOHN EOBINSON, JXJN. 

Publisher. 
17, Freehold Street, Blyth, 
Dec. 20th, 1869. 



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CONTENTS. 



Albany, Duke of, 23 

Alston Moor, refiige, 45. 

Atmore, Rev. C, 118. 

Barrow, Francis, 39. 

Bergen, William C, 171. 

Bedlington, cemetery, 204; church, 203; courts, 185; 
Dutch in, 200 ; gentlemen thieves, 197 ; King John 
at, 192; name, 181; peace bought, 185; rectory pul- 
led down, 197 ;^ rental of, 202; St. Cuthbert at, 182 ; 
villans, 188; vicars, 205. 

Blyth, advertised, 40; camps, 49; ancient camp at, 98; 
etymology of, 20; church opened, 111; coal trade, 
36 ; interments at Horton, 35 ; map of harbour, 34 ; 
in time of war, 60 ; shipowners, 47 ; shopkeepers, 61 ; 
enfranchised, 171. 

Blyth, Eev. Mr., 113. 

Borderers, 24; law, 22; picture of, 25; defence 
against, 26; interdicted, 25. 

Broadbelt, Rev. Mr., 113. 

Brown, William, 11. 

Burn, Robinson, 137. 

Byers, Charley, 15. 

Burial Board, 247. 

Cambois, 215 ; colliery, 217 ; Adam de, 196. 

Caracute, 3. 

Carr, W., 83. 

Carnaby, W., 31. 

Carmichael, Rev. D., 114. 

Campbell, J., 69. 

Catholics, 108, 111. 



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TIU. 

Chapel, 121. 

Cemetery, 236. 

Central Hall, 235. 

Charlton, WiU, 24; Bob, 207. 

Cholera, 227, 234. 

Clare, hung, 223. 

Clark, J., 45 ; Henry, 43. 

CoNYERs, Roger, 186. 

Corby family, 211. 

CoTEs' horse, 207. 

Coal, 1725, 157; exported, 162; tax, 159. 

Corn Trade, 163. 

Cod Fish, 163. 

CusTOMr;, Collectors of, 146. 

Craig, Rev. — ., 112 ; James, 115. 

CowpEN township, 248 ; colliery, 63 ; north pit, 233 
monks' charter of, 249; name, 248; copyholders, 252 
enclosed, 252 ; freeholders, 252 ; salt pans, 25 
service of villans, 251. 

Cramlington, George, 4 ; Thomas, 5 ; Lancelot, 13 ; 
Henry, 14; Robert, 14; PhiKp, 14. 

Croft Estate, acts of parliament for, 255. 

Curry gibbetted, 37. 

Custom House Book, 37. 

Delaval, Ghiy, 1; Gilbert, 2; John, 5; Robert, 4; 
Ralph, 110; Lord, 85; death of Lord, 223; burning 
of hall, 225; admiral George, killed, 219. 

Dbbord, Mr., 79; Henry, death of, 147. 

Denum, WilUam de, 196. 

DoDD, Dr.'s, review, 19. 

Drink, payments by, 178. 

Duel, Manser's, 81. 

Dunkirk privateer. 29. 

Duxfield, Mrs., 223. 

Eagle shot, 228. 



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IX. 

Effigies, burning of, 90. 

Erkington, Madame, 15. 

!FiTZ Geoffrey, Adam, 2. 

Fenwick, Sir Ralph, 28; Eobert, 210. 

Fishery, 122; fishennen, 127. 

Four and Twenty for Horton, 253. 

French Officers, 65. 

FuRNEss, Rev. Mr., 118. 

Gaulter, Rev. J., 118. 

Gleaner, Blyth, 97. 

Greenwood, Rev. R., 112. 

Greenwell, Rev. W., 112. 

Grundel, J., 116. 

Guthrie, 97. 

Harbour, early times, 139; directions for taking, 1710, 

140 : directions, 1756, 141 ; company^ 144 ; cost of, 

145 ; dredger, 146. 
Hannay, E., 43. 
Hartley Pit, 242. 
Harrison, Mary, 39, 178. 
Holland, Patrick, 79. 
Houses, want of, 52. 
Hunter, Rev. W., 117. 

„ George, 223. 
Hutchinson, W . G., 106. 
Johnson, Mary, 254. 
Jones, Paul, 69. 
Kell, Ebenezer, 59. 
Kilham, Rev. A., 118. 
King John, 146. 
Law of Wreck, 14. 
Links, 20. 

Lifeboat Disaster, 129, second do., 134; new one, 240. 
Loraine, a., 14. 
Lynn, 80. 



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Marshall, George, 40 ; sons, 40 ; George's poems, 41. 

Mason's Murder, 221. 

Macauley's History, 36. 

Mechanics, 169 ; anniversary of union, 236. 

Meggison and Manners, death of, 236. 

Methodism, 116. 

Militia at Blyth, 34. 

Morpeth Turnpike, 53. 

MuRTON, Wm., 74. 

Newsum, Eichard de, 3 ; inventory, 6 ; mansion, 15 ; 

tithes, 8 ; tenants, 1723, 15. 
Newton, Mrs., 51. 
News, reading of the, 59. 
New Chapels, 121. 

Nicholson, James, 90 ; Richard, 16 ; Robert, 75. 
Nook, Blyth, 2, 19. 
Ogle, John's will, 5; inventory, .6; unable to write, 28. 

„ Miss, 17. 
Oliverian Survey, 109. 
Peace, 1814, 89. 
Pilots, last, 127, 237. 
Philips, James and Joseph, 77. 
Pikemen, 65. 
Pressgang, 63. 
Post Office, 87, 88. 
Ph(enix Society, 169. 
Prize Fight, 231. 
Privateers, 61. 

Prince of Wales' Wedding, 238. 
Picnic, Miners', 239. 
Quay Building, 142. 

Rates, poor, 244; church, 246; coimty and police, 247; 
Railway, Blyth & Tyne, 176 ; Plessy, 157. 
Ratcliffe, Colonel, 15 ; Mary, 15. 
Review, Grand, 49. 



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XI 



Eeform Meeting, 227. 

EiDLEY, Will, 24 ; Eichard and Nicholas, 39; Colonel, 
39 ; coming of age, 220, 226; death of, 224, 226. 

EoADri, 35. 

EoBiNSON, William, 50 ; John, 91 ; Eichard, 128. 

EoBERTSON, Eev. William, 113. 

Eoss's murder, 239. 

Salt, trade, 148 ; made by females, 162. 

Sacred Month, 229. 

Simpson, John, 76. 

Shotton, Eoger, 47. 

Schoolmasters, 28. 

Seamen's Strike, 94. 

Sheraton's Parlour, 59. 

Shipping, 56 ; captured, 67. 

Ships, 1723, 1733, 159; 1770, 1789, 1807, 166; race, 
232; ships burnt, 223, 224. 

Shipwrecks — Aln, 241; Belvedere, 134; BHtannia, 235; 
Blucher, 230 ; Brothock, 230; Comtance, 289 ; Cum" 
herland, 132 ; Defence, 78 ; Dorothy, 129 ; Dorothy's 
Increase, 129 ; Dorothy, 227; Eagle, 224; Eclipse, 224; 
Eleanor, 99; English Hero, 127; Enterprise, 134; 
Epsilon, 235; Guadiana, 239; Harcourt, 239; Hard- 
wick, 230; Hero, 78; Honour, 235; Irene, 238; Jane, 
99; Janes, 241; John, 127; John, 227; John Baker, 
235 ; John and William, 238 ; John Bunyan, 242 ; 
Leviathan, 129; Maria, 234; Malvina, 230; Mary 
Ann, 235; Mars, 228; Marys and Anns, 234; Margt. 
Knight, 237; Minerva, 225; Nadir, 226; Ocean Queen, 
240; Peggy, 222; Pochahontas, 239; Prospenty, 133; 
Bedbreast, 226; Robert and Sarah, 224; Robert and 
Mary, 238; Rochester Ca8tle,230 ; Rob Roy, 230; Sala- 
mander, 234: ; Sarah, 226; Seaflower, 234; Sceptre, 231; 
Sisters,24:2 ; 8peedwell,\32 ; Sylph,233; Union Packet, 
235; Vesper,241; William, 236; Wild Huntress, 239, 



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xu. . 

Scotch Army, 33. 

♦Smuggling, 47. 

Surnames extinct, 175. 

SiLVERTOP, Wm., 16 ; Greorge, and Buonaparte, 16. 

Storey, John, 170 ; Stoiey of Cambois, 223. 

Stobhill, 21. 

Strother, Colonel, 34. 

Stoker, Robert, 47. 

Steamboat, first, 100. 

Smith, William, 101. 

Short, Mrs., 102. 

Skeleton, 236. 

Surrey, Lord, 24. 

Thoburn, James, 104. 

Thompson, Rev. J., 111. 

Transport Service, 60-3. 

TuLLEY, John, 234. 

TwizELL, Richard, 125. 

Unlucky Day, 128. 

Wages, 177. 

Waterloo Bridge, 63. 

Wallace, Henry, 71. 

Wanley, Alice, 266. 

Waterworks, 236. 

Widdrington's Will, 263. 

Wood, Rev. Mr., 111. 

Wolsey, Cardinal, 23. 



ERRATA. 

Page 234,8th line from the bottom, read John instead of Jatnea Laidler. 
Page 122, top line, read ISth of March instead of Deomber, 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 



CHAPTER I. 

Histoiy of Kewsliam from the Conquest to 1723. The Ddavals. Adam. 
Fitz Geoffrey's claims to Newsham. Claim compromised. Richard de 
Newsam. George Cramlington. Thomas Cramlington. John Ogle; his 
will and inventory. Lancelot Cramlington. Robert Cramlington. Newshant 
sequestered. Philip Cramlington. Colonel RatclifEe. Sale of Kewsham in 
1723, to Matthew White, Esq. William Silvertop. 

'•E cannot trace back the History of Blyth to a 
beginning. For several centuries all we can 
learn respecting it is through its connexion with News- 
ham, which continued to be the more important place^ 
till at least the middle of the seventeenth century, and 
we do not jSnd any account of Newsham till after the 
Conquest, when it is in the possession of the Delavals. 
The Delavals were related to the family of the Conqueror, 
by the marriage of Gfuy Delaval to Dionesia, niece of 
the Conqueror, and second daughter of Eobert, Eart 
Montague. Sir Hendriek Delaval, second son of Ghiy 
Lord Delaval^ carried one of the kead banners in the 
army of William, duke of Normandy, -vl^hen he invaded 



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2 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

England, and in that capacity took an active share in 
the great battle of HastiQgs. On the submission of the 
country to William he divided the broad lands of 
England among his followers, and as was to be expected 
his own kinsman, and one who had borne high office in 
the conquering army, was sure to obtain a large share 
of the spoil: hence, besides the lands which the Delavals 
got in Northumberland, they held others in the counties 
of York, Northampton, Lincoln, and Oxford — ^in all, 
twenty-two knights' fees. In the reign of king John, 
Newsham was held by Gilbert De la Yal, who was one 
of the barons of England, who, headed by Eobert Fitz- 
Walter, met the king at Rimnymede and Staraes near 
Windsor, on the fifteenth of June, 1215, and compelled 
him formally to sign the grant of privileges known as 
Magna Charta, and which has ever since been deemed 
the foundation of England's liberties. At the period 
when Newsham is held by Gilbert, we get the first 
glimpse of Blyth, which incidentally turns up in the 
record of a law-suit. 

In the reign of John, a law-suit was instituted by 
Adam Fitz-Geofl&^y, who claimed four carracutes of land 
in Newsham, against Gilbert De la Val, the lord of the 
barony. The controversy was terminated by a com- 
promise, the terms of which are recorded on the plea-roU 
of the ninth year of that king (1208). In the first plaxje 
Adam acknowledges the paramount title of Gilbert to 
the whole of tiie land in dispute, and accepts of a moiety, 
out of which is excepted the salt pans on the Snook 
(Snoc), the fishery of Blume, and the capital messuage 
of Newsum, in compensation for which he receives a fur- 



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mSTOR Y OF BL YTH. 3 

ther moiety of another carracute* of land, formerly the 
property of his father Greofflrey, together with the 
advowson of one carracute of land, formerly granted by 
ancestors of his own to the brethren of an hospital ; the 
whole to be held by knight's-service, calculating eighteen 
carracutes as one knight's fee. It is further agreed that 
in consideration of forty marks paid by Gilbert to Adam, 
the latter shall renounce all claims which he has, or may 
have, to any part of the lands of the said Gilbert in 
Seaton, Callerton, or Dissington, save only a right of 
common or pasture, as the same is enjoyed by Gilbert's 
own tenants, upon the lands of Seaton. For permission 
to enter into this agreement (pro licentia concordandi) , 
Adam pays to the crown a jSne of ten marks. This 
document contains the earliest mention of the Snook of 
Blyth, a term still applied in other localities, as at 
Seaton Carew, Holy Island, &c., to a promontory, but 
now corrupted into "Nook." The notice of the salt 
pans and of the fishery, is also one of the earliest indi- 
cations we have of the incipient trade of the port. The 
connexion of Adam's family with Newsham must have 
been of some standing, from the fact of the above grant 
by his ancestors to the hospital. 

In the reign of Henry II, the three and a half carra- 
cutes of land continued to be held as one-third of a 
knight's fee, the possessor berag Eichard de Newsum. 

♦ Carracute— a plough-land; as much arable land as one plough, with 
the animals that worked it, could cultivate in a year. There were attached 
to it houses* meadows, and pasture land, for the use and maintenance of the 
tenant Like the bovate, or ox-gang, it vadedin extent in various places. 
In Bolden book it occurs but once, where it is stated to contain 120 acres, 
Fleta says, if land lay in three common fields a carracute was 180 acres, 60 
for winter, 60 for spring tillage, and 60 for fallow ; but if it lav in two 
fields, 160 acres, 80 for tillage and 80 for fallow. 



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4 EI8T0RY OF BLYTH. 

The other two oaaracutes, retained by Gilbert de la Val, 
had in the meantime been granted to a junior member 
of his house, and were now held by Henry de la Val in 
Bocc9.ge, by an annual payment of half a mark (testa de 
Neml), In the twenty-fourth year of Edward III, 
Eobert de la Val held twenty-four acres of land with 
their appurtenances at Newsum, at which time he is re- 
presented as an adherent of the king's enemies in Scotland 
(inquisitiones ad quod Dominum). Either the transgres- 
sion must have been pardoned, or the lands, if forfeited, 
restored to his family, as nine years afterwards they are 
rtill in the possession of Eobert de la Val. The inqui- 
sition then made, further shows that Sir Eobert de la 
Val, knight, was possessor of the whole of Newsham, 
previous to the tenth year of Eichard II. In 1382, 
Newsham and Horton were assessed at 3s. for the ex- 
penses of the knights of the shire, Adamoras d'Athol 
and Ead de Eure, dming their attendance on parliament 
that year. Ooupen and Bebside were each assessed at 
2s., and Harford and Stikelaw 3s. 4d. for the same pur- 
pose. Newsum was in the possession of John de la Val 
in the reign of Henry VT. The inquisition on the death 
of the latter was held in the first year of Edward IV, 
1471, but it must have been some time after his death, 
as the name of his successor, George Cramlington, occurs 
in the Lawson pedigree as the proprietor in the previous 
reign. 

Gteorge Cramlington was a younger brother of Sir 
William Cramlington, of Cramlington, and probably 
acquired Newsham by marriage with the heiress of De 
la Val. Thomas Cramlington appears from the escheat- 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 5 

or*s books to have been proprietor in the tenth year of 
the reign of Elizabeth. Sir John Delaval, who died ia 
1562, made a bequest of a whye and calf to Thomas 
Cramlington, and in 1572 his name appears as a witness 
to the will of Sir John Delaval — son and successor of the 
above-named Sir John. He afterwards married Ann, 
the youngest daughter, who inherited from her father a 
fortune of one hundred marks. Thomas succeeded to 
the estate when very young, and died in 1624. John 
Ogle occupied the mansion house at Newsham in 1561, 
and farmed the estate, and indeed the Bebside estate as 
well, of which he was proprietor. This wealthy gentle- 
man, a scion of the house of Ogle, was second son of Sic 
William Ogle, of Cockle Park, county of Northumber- 
land, a knight, by Margaret, daughter of Sir John 
Delaval, of Seaton Delaval. He married Phillis, daugh- 
ter of John Ogle, of Ogle castle, gentleman, and died in 
1586, his wife surviving him many years. In her will, 
which is dated June 22nd, 1606, she describes herself as 
"late of Newsham, now beiug at Lemengton." Hid 
will bears the date of 1586, and as it with the inv^itory 
of his effects, mirrors forth to us in our day such an in- 
teresting representation of social and domestic life among 
men of his rank, besides famishing a distinct view of 
the state of agriculture in those times, we present these 
documents entire: — 

** Jax. 18th, 1685-6. John Ogle, of Newsham, in the County of North- 
nmherland, gentleman. My body to be buried within the Chapel of Seaton 
Delaval. To be distributed among the poor, 40s. To my eldest son, 
William Ogle, all my lands in Bebside, to him and his heirs male lawfully 
begotten, and in default of such to my son Ralph, then to my son Lancelotj 
then to my brother James Ogle, and then to mv right heirs. To my son 
William one hondred marks, my best grey torse, one silver salt and si< 
tiller fpooM) my best suit of apparel, .viz., a cloak, ft doublet, hose and 

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6 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

'stockings, my bows and quivers, with arrows. To my son Thomas, in fall 
contentation'of his child's portion, £100, to be delivered by my son-in-law, 
Peter Delaval, to be employed for the use of my son Thomas. And in token 
of remembrancer, I give to my said son Peter lOs. To my sons Ralph and 
Lancelot, to each of them, one hundred marks, in contentation of their 
child's portions, and they to be committed to the custody of my brother 
James. To my son-in-law, Lancelot Cramlington, £40, in full payment of 
two hundred marks, which I gave in marriage with my daughter Mary. 
To my daughter, Elizabeth Ogle, £100, to be delivered to Mr. Robert Dela- 
val, Esq., and his wife, for my daughter's use. To mv daughter, Margaret 
Ogle, £100, to be delivered to my sister in law Isabella, wife to my brother 
James Ogle, for the use of my said daughter. To my daughters Barbara and 
Dorotye Ogle, to each of them, one hundred marks,* and they to remain with 
my wife. And if it happen any of my said children to die, then his or their 
portion to be divided equally among the rest. To James Ogle of Hebborne, 
one young quye of two years old. To Bryan Ogle, of Shilvington. one young 
quye of two years old. To my brother James's sons, John, George, 'Cuth- 
bert, Robert, and Charles Ogle, to every one of them, an old anngell. My 
will is that all my cattle shall remain and depasture upon my grounds at 
Bebside and Newsham, as they are at this instant, until after St Helen's 
day next ; and that the oat-land in Newsham and Bebside, ready to be sown, 
shall be sown with oats, so as the commody thereof may redound to the use 
of my children. The rest of all my Groods 1 give unto my son Lancelot, 
whom I make my sole Executor. And I heartily request my dearly be- 
loved friends Robert Delaval, James Ogle, Edward Gfray, Matthew Ogle, 
Oliver Ogle, and James Lyle, to be supervisors. Witnesses — Robert 
Delaval, James Ogle, Matthew Ogle, Oliver Ogle, Martin Ogle, Brian Ogle, 
Robert Lawson, Marmaduke Fenwick, and George Jordan. (Proved Mar 
9tb, 1586.) 

Inventory, Jan. 20th, 1585-6. Newsham. Ctfttfo.— Nineteen oxen, £49 1/8; 
seventeen three-year old stotts, £34; twenty-two milk kine, six young 
calves, with one bull, £46 ; fifteen calves, yearlings, £7 ; one hundred and 
twenty-one ewes and four rams, £40 ; thirty-five tanned gimmers, £4 13/4 ; 
72 hogs, £9 12/ ; 1 pied gelding, £6; 1 young grey gelding, £6 ; 1 sorrelled 
gelding, £5 ; 1 pied mare, 50/ ; 1 old black mare, 80/ ; I great grey gelding, 
£3 6/8 ; 1 dun nag, 19/6 ; 1 great white mare, 40/ ; I young grey fiUey, 60/ ; 
1 young grey mare, £6 ; 2 colt foals, 60/ ; 3 sows, 16/ ; 1 boar and 2 shots, 
12/ ; 1 old goose and 2 ganders, 8/6. Orain and Com.— Wheat, 87 bolls, 
£60 7/ ; malt, £3 lO/H; oats, two hundred and nine bolls, three pecks, £52 
16/5 ; peas, three bolls, 15/ ; wheat, reaped anno 1586, one hundred and 
forty-two thraves, at four a boll, £24. Plougfi and Wain (r^ar.— Three 
long wains, 20/ ; three muck wains, 18/ ; two ploughs, 7/ ; ten iron sommes 
(traces), two shackles and bolts, 16/4; seven yokes, eighteen bows, 6/«; 
three ox harrows, whereof one is broken, with iron teeth, 13/4 ; two pair of 
borae harrows, 6/ ; four muck forks, /8; four pitch forks, /4; three ware 
hacks, /IS; 1 teaming muck hack, /2* three spades, I bam shovel, /12 ; two 
wain ropes, 2/ ; three whin hacks, '2/ ; an axe, /8 ; two wimbles and one 
gripe, /1 0. In the Chamber over the SaU.—\ trundle bedsteaa, 4/ ; 1 feather 
bed and bolster, 20/ ; 1 mattress, 4/ ; one long table with a frame, 4/ ; one 
great wooden press, 26/8 ; one square table with a frame, 4/; one chest and 
one old chair, 4/4; woollen hangings about the chamber, 24/; one carpet 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 7 

and BIX cusHons, 80/. In the Chamber over the PaW<>ttr.— Three feather 
beds and three bolsters, 46/6 ; eight pair of blankets, 48/ ; eleven pillows, 
6/8 ; two mattresses and twenty happings, or coverings, £3 6/8 ; nine old 
bappings, 18/; three pistre coverings, 20/; 2 standing bedsteads, 3o/; 
curtiains, red and green, 2 pair, with flyers, 20/ ; two trundle bedsteads, 8/ ; 
two cupboards and three chests, 16/. In the Parlour.— On'^ standing 
vellow bedstead, with red and yellow hangings of woollen, *24/ ; two folding 
bedsteads and one trundle bedstead, 6/ ; one feather bed and one bolster, 
2/4 ; one cupboard, carved, 13/4 ; one old counter, /8 ; one old wooden chair, 
and a peck for corn measuring, one bedstead in the little parlour, /6. In 
the J?aW.— One large table with frame, 10/; two cupboards, 8/; one form, 
one chair, and one kenning measure, /42. In the Buiterie.— One silver 
salt and six silver spoons, £8 ; one cupboard, 5/ ; four latyne candlesticks, 
4/ ; two pewter candlesticks, 3/ ; one chating dish, /1 4 ; two pewter salts, /8 ; 
one bason and ewer of pewter, 4/; one latyne bason, /18; three pewter 
chamber pots 8/. Lying with other thintfs in the Chaptl and Garret-loft, 
—Two standing bedsteads, one trundle bedstead, one old cupboard, and 
three coney nets, 20/ ; three old bedsteads, two scythes, two old bills, and 
one woollen wheel, 6/ ; ten pair of flaxen sheets, £4 ; eight pillow -beers, 10/ ; 
five pair of coarse sheets, 10/; five flaxen table cloths, 25/; two coarse 
table cloths, 'ijQ ; one cupboard cloth, one long towell, 2/8 ; one dozen table 
napkins, one flaughter spade, /6. In the Kitehen.— One old brewing 
cauldron, 4/ ; one new brewing cauldron, 20/ ; two kettles for milkness, 6/ ; 
four brass pots, 12/; one iron chimley in the hall, 13/4 ; fourchimley crooks, 
5/; two spits, two pair of tongs, and one iron pot, 2/; iwo pair of pot -clips, 
/4 ; one mortar and pestal, 2/ ; three spears and three lances, 8/ ; seventy- 
three pounds of pewter vessels, at /7 in the pound, 42/. In the MaM-loft, 
—Eleven stones of wool, 58/8 ; one winnowing cloth, 6/. In the Brewhonse, 
—One masking tub and three cooling tubs for wort, 4/ ; three leaven tubs, 
one boulting tub, and one dry ware tub, /2(> ; ten beer barrels and two 
stands, 7/4; one soe for water, /18; two milking pails, /8; one pail for 
wort. /3. In the Milkhouse,— Two milk tubs, /l2 ; five bowls for milk, 2/ ; 
three chums, 2/ ; one cheese press, 8/ ; four cheese fats, 2/6 ; one brake and 
moulding board and two bee-hives, 10/. Jn the ^/u^;^.— Two jacks and 
two steel caps, 33/4 ; two bows, one quiver, and one bag with arrows, 13/4 ; 
money and gold found ready there, £21 4/ ; two brand irons, with other 
iron stuff, 2/6 ; one pair pla3dng tables, /6. 

Bebside. Civile.-— Twenty oxen, £51 13/4; twenty-two year-old stotts 
and quies, £22 ; thirty kine, £60 ; eight three-year old stotts and quies, 
and one bull, £12; twelve calves, not yearings, £9. Com. and Grain ^ 
Wheat, fifty bolls two pecks, £24 18/4; wheat, reaped anno 1586, one 
hundred and twenty thraves, £18. Cats, reaped anno 1586, two hundred 
and f ortv thraves, at five stocks » i>f>ll. i»./ Wain gear and plough 

gear,— Two long wains and two muck wains, 26/8 ; two ploughs and one 
old plough, 7/; ten soames and two shackles and boits, lb/; twelve yokes 
and twent;^ bows, 6/ ; one ox harrow with iron teeth, 3/4 ; one pair of horse 
harrows with iron teeth 2/6 ; one teanige muck hack, /2 ; three muck forks 
shod with iron, 6/ ; three pitch forks for com or hay, /3 ; two whin hacks, 
/1 2 ; one shovel and two spades, /8 ; two wain ropes, 2/8 ; four traces, /4 ; 
twenty-two timber trees, 40/; one oat cl est in the barn, 13/4 ; twenty one 
timber trees in Wendley, £3 : nine timbei- trees in Shadfen, 20/. 



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8 HISTORY OF BLYTE. 

Debts dae to John Ogle. William Winship, of Bftckworth, £3 fi/8 ; Robert 
Johnson, of Monkseaton, 15/ ; Robert Ogle, of Newcastle, 23/4; Thomas 
Preston, for two timber trees, 10/; George Fen wick, of Hedwin, 40/ ; Thomas 
Swan, of Seaton,16/; Martin Fenwick, of Hedwin, 16/; William Harbottle 
and John Spring, *^6/8; Joshaa Delaval, for wheat, oats, &c^ 17/4; Lionel 
Watson, 40/ ; Gerard Lilbum and Robert Johnson, £4 ; Bennet Watson, £4 ; 
John Smith, of Newcastle, for sheep, £8 ; John Smith, the elder, of Cowpen, 
for three bolls of wheat, 21/ ; Mrs. Mary Cramlington, for five stones of 
batter at 4/ the stone, and three cheeses /12 a-piece, 23/ ; Lancelot Cramling- 
ton, for two stone of wool, 15/ ; Thomas Stone, for one stone of wool, 7/6 ; 
William Pearson, for two stone of wool, 14/ ; Thomas Milburn, of Morpeth, 
for three stone of wool, 22/6 ; Joshua Delaval, for three stone of butter and 
two cheeses, 14/. Dae for geste cattle, from Michaelmas to Candlemas^ 
44/10. 

Debts due for John Ogle to pay. Servants' wages, £36 9/; for reaping 
the corn at Newsham and Bebside, £3 1/2 ; for the tythe com and lambs at 
Newsham, by a bill made to the Earl of Northumberland, £5; to Mr. 
Bates, £40; to Lancelot Cramlington, £40; to Lancelot Brown, 8/2; to 
William Brown, the tailor, 13/4 ; to Anthony Felton, 36/4 ; for one whole 
year's rent of the West Sputtle, due at Martinmas, 1585, 26/8 ; to Anthony 
Morpeth, £4 18/7; to Anthony Morpeth, for blackes, £17 8/6 ; to William 
Hutnerwicke, 11/6 ; to George Jurdene, for engrossing certain assurances, 
^8 ; to Robert Lewin, for a half-year's rent (interest) for his wife's dower, 
. £3 6/8; funeral expenses, £6 I/. 

In presenting these interesting documents we have 
been careful, as far as desirable, to dispense with the 
orthographical peculiarities of the period to which they 
belong; but we cannot dismiss them without a few 
comparative and particular observations. 

At that time the lands of Newsham would be un- 
enclosed, and a great portion occupied as pasture. The 
sum then paid to the Earl of Northumberland for tythe 
for com and lambs was £6. The tythes of Newsham 
had belonged to the monks of Tynemouth, and were 
then farmed at 206. These with the other possessions 
of the monastery were demised to Thomas, Earl of 
Northumberland, by Queen Mary, for 21 years, from 
1660, at the yearly rent of £63 3s. 4d. In the 12th 
year of Elizabeth the Earl, being attached to the 



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EI8T0RT OF BLYTH. 9 

Catholic religion, joined in the memorable confederacy, 
and, August, 1572, was beheaded at York. 

The same year the Queen granted the same posses- 
sions to the Earl's younger brother. Sir Henry Percy, 
and his son Henry, for life, and the life of the survivor, 
and to Thomas, son of Sir Henry: yielding to the 
crown £165 lis. 5d. annually. These possessions re- 
mained in the Percy family till 1632, when the last of 
the grantees died. After various other changes these 
tithes have become equally divided between the Duke 
of Northumberland and Sir M. W. Eidley. And the 
tithes which in the days of the monks yielded a rent 
of one pound are now worth £200, or 40 times as much 
as John Ogle paid. 

The superior money value of the ox, as compared with 
that of the cow, was doubtless attributable to the fact of 
the former being used for draught purposes. There is 
not a single horse upon the Bebside farm, and, though 
the inventory contains a pair of horse-harrows, yet it is 
highly probable that the use of the horse for such a 
purpose was an extraordinary aflfair, and those at News- 
ham would chiefly be retained for the saddle. The 
coney nets indicate that the links then swarmed with 
rabbits, as they continued to do down to the present 
century. The ware hacks are strong evidence that the 
agrioulturaKsts of that day appreciated the value (for 
the purposes of manure) of the sea-weed periodically 
cast upon the beach during stormy weather. Bows, 
arrows, steel caps, lances, and spears, bring before us 
•the ancient weapons of warfare, which had not yet been 
superseded by firearms, and now almost call up a smile 

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10 SISTORT OF BLYTE. 

when contrasted with the perfection to which, in our 
day, we have carried the art of kilKng our species. In 
a few hours we can pile a hecatomb such as our fore- 
fathers would have required weeks to accomplish. The 
eldest son had his father's best suit of apparel willed to 
him with the same formality as though the issues of a 
kingdom depended on the transaction ; but what should 
we in our day think to witness the heir of a noble sire 
disporting himself in the habUiments of his departed 
father ! In the reign of Elizabeth, a gentleman's cos- 
tume comprised the large trunk hose, long-waisted 
doublet, short cloak, hat, band and feather, and shoes 
with roses. The term " hose" continued to be applied 
to the entire vestment from the waist to the feet, and 
were made of silk or velvet ; the doublet or jacket was 
still more costly, and was stuffed or quilted. The cloaks 
were cut according to the Spanish, French, or Dutch 
styles, and were of sDk, cloth, velvet, or taffeta, and of 
every possible colour. Then there is an iron chimley in 
the inventory. The fire at this period, and for a century 
afterwards, was kindled upon the hearth-stone, which 
was laid level with the floor ; and that it was indeed a 
fire is abundantly evident from the wide chimley ranges 
yet to be seen in some very old houses. Occasionally, 
however, an iron grate was used by the higher classes, 
and it is this grate they term a chimley. Unlike our 
modem fire grates, it was not a fixture, but a convenience 
which might be moved from one room to another. The 
iron chimley was so important an article of furniture 
that it was frequently entailed by will upon son after 
son in succession, along with the Flanders chest and 



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SISTOB Y OF BL YTH. 11 

over-sea' coverlid. WiUiam Brown, the tailor, has a 
modest little accouiit due to him of thirteen and four- 
pence. This is the first tradesman whose name comes 
down to us in connection with the neighbourhood. 
Where a suit of apparel went with an estate there 
would not "be need for many tailors. Perhaps William 
was the tailor, literally, as he is described, and himself 
performed all the parish required in this line. John 
Ogle would likely practice the thrift of his times — ^buy 
his own materials, and get Brown and his assistants to 
come to Newsham to make them up, or "whip the cat," 
as the term went. The amount for servants' wages be- 
speaks a very large establishment. Two farms would 
require a very considerable number of labourers as 
ploughmen, herds, &c. There were forty-two milk 
cows, for the milking of which and carrying forward the 
operations of the dairy, in converting so large a quantity 
of milk into butter and cheese, many hands would be 
needed ; these would be still further augmented by the 
domestics necessarily maintained by a person of his 
rank and wealth. The wages paid to servants at that 
time in Newcastle, according to an item in the inventory 
of Cuthbert Ellison, were not large. He has " owing to 
his man-servant, due at Candlemas, 19s. 8d. ; to two 
maid-servants, for their half-year's wages, 12s. 6d. each." 
Assuming that £36 9s. represent a half-year's wages, if 
reckoned at the Newcastle rate, it will show Mr. Ogle 
to have maintained a very large establishment. 

Sanitary considerations did not trouble the minds of 
those whose circumstances placed them far beyond the 
pinchings of poverty, hence we have no less than ten 

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12 HIS TOR Y OF BL TTS. 

beds in three rooms, and four of these beds honoured 
with a location in the parlour. The male servants would 
sleep in the lofts of the places in which the cattle were 
housed, a custom prevalent in the county till only very 
recentlyi No article of either glass* or earthenware 
occurs in the inventory. Men of Mr. Ogle's position 
used plates and dishes made of pewter, and the value of 
his service of that plate amounts to £2 14s. 4d. Even 
in noble families two persons commonly used one plate 
between them. Forks had not been invented, and in- 
stead of them all classes of the community used their 
fingers. It was accordingly a part of the etiquette of 
the table to employ the fingers so delicately as not to 
soil them to any great extent. Ladies were especially 
enjoined, when eating off the same plate with their 
neighbour, to turn the choicest pieces towards him, and 
not to select the nicest and finest for themselves. Pewter 
long kept its place. About sixty years ago might be 
seen on the dresser shelves of old householders a goodly 
array of well-polished pewter plate, but fallen into disuse, 
and then kept only for show. The study reveals its 
former occupant — ^the mass priest. It had become a 
place for the safe custody of John Ogle's ready cash, 
but among all his effects there is no indication of the 
existence of a book. Those were not the days wherein 

* The glass-making art, so far as this country is concerned, dates back to 
the fifteenth century. In 1621 Venice was the "Queen of glass-making 
cities ; " and there " the art was so highly valued that every one who prac- 
tised it was esteemed a gentleman ipie arte (for the art's* sake). In this 
land, we learn from Howell's letters, ** the last gentleman glass blower who 
practised his profession at Sir Matthew White Ridley's works, in Newcaatle- 
on-T^e, was named Henzell. He was always attended bv a boy, whose 
duty it was to hand the gentleman his stick when he was about to walk in 
•tate from one part of the glass house to another I '* 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 13 

**the schoolmaster was abroad," and books were of no 
utility in a family, the members of which had not 
acquired the art of reading. 

The names of persons occurring in the inventory, 
where no residence is given, embrace most of the persons 
of any consequence in the parishes of Earsdon and 
Horton. Thomas Preston, William Harbottle, John 
Spring, and John Spring, jun., were freeholders living 
in Coupen. Of the three Delavals named in the wiQ, ' 
Robert possessed the estate and resided at Delaval castle; 
Peter and Joshua were cousins of Robert, and probably 
farmers on the estate. Oliver Ogle lived at Burradon; 
and Thomas Swan, of Seaton, was an ancestor of the 
Swans who continued to farm on the Delaval estate 
down to the present century. 

Lancelot Cramlington, mentioned in John Ogle's will, 
married his daughter Mary. He was probably a 
younger brother of Thomas Cramlington's father, and 
lived at Blyth in 1661. His name is appended with 
that of John Ogle to the articles of agreement for de- 
fence against the moss-troopers. Lancelot Cramlington, 
of Blyth-nook, gentleman, was interred at Earsdon, 
September 14th, 1602. Mabel, his daughter, was mar- 
ried at the same place to Mr. Christopher Pryn, on the 
19th June, 1603. Lx 1628, Thomas Cramlington, of 
Blyth-nook, and Lancelot his son and heir, held ono 
messuage and forty acres of land with their appur- 
tenances, ia Newsham, late the property of George 
Cramlington. Rachael, wife of John Cramlington, of 
Blyth, died in 1648; and fourteen ye^trs later John 
was resident at Backworth, where his name occurs in 



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14 HISTORY OF BLYTE. 

the parish books as vestryman, and whence the family 
■ subsequently removed to Earsdon. The late Henry 
Cramlington, an alderman of Newcastle-on-Tyne, was 
the representative of this family. He was three times 
mayor of Newcastle, and died at Birling, Warkworth, 
May 22nd, 1844, — ^the last of this ancient family. 

Robert Cramlington succeeded to the Newsham estate 
in 1624, and his name occurs in connection with a re- 
markable circumstance which took place in Blyth 
harbour in 1636 — ^he was a loyalist, and from some 
cause which I have not been able to ascertain, he got into 
trouble with the leaders of the Commonwealth, and his 
estate was sequestered after his death, in 1652. He was 
buried at Earsdon on the 23rd of January ; Grace, his 
widow, on the 22nd February; and Dorothy, their 
daughter, on the 10th March, 1650. After this the 
mansion at Newsham was occupied by a member of the 
Loraine family. 

December 29th, 1656, witnessed the baptism, at Ears- 
don, of John, son of Capt. Anthony Loraine, of News- 
ham ; the same ordinance being performed on the person 
of Elizabeth, their daughter, February 7th, 1658 ; and 
on March 7th, ten years later, Eobert, son of John 
Loraine (brother of Anthony, perhaps) was buried. 

Spearman says that after the sequestration of the 
estate of Newsham it was purchased by the city of 
London. Shortly after the Restoration, however, it 
again came into the possession of the family. In 1663, 
Philip Cramlington is returned in the county rate book 
as the sole proprietor of the township of Newsham, then 
rated at £200 per annum. His name is likewise inserted 



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HISTORY OP BLYTH. 16 

by Blome in his catalogue of the gentry of Northumber- 
land, in 1673. 

In 1696 Newsham passed into other hands, becoming 
the property of Thomcis EatcliflFe, a colonel in the army, 
brotiier of Erancis first earl of Derwentwater. He was 
non-resident. Madame Errington and George Erring- 
ton, catholics, and probably members of the Errington 
family living at Beaufront, resided at Newsham* in 
1706. Colonel Eatcliffe died unmarried, and devised 
Newsham with his other estates of Plessey, Shotton, and 
Nafferton, to his niece Lady Mary Ratcliffe during her 
life, and after her decease to James, Earl of Derwent- 
water, and his heirs, on the attainder of the latter for 
the part he took in the unfortunate rebellion of 1715, 
the whole were vested in the commissioners of forfeited 
estates, who advertised them for sale at their office in 
the Inner Temple, July 11th, 1723. The following 
particulars were circulated on the occasion: 

NAMES OF TENANTS, AND AMOUNT OF RENTS. 

Edward Byers, for the Demesnt farm, 40/., WeB,t farm, 40/ £80 

Francis Welton, Lmkhonse farm 90 

* This mansion is still standing, and has long been occupied as a farm- 
house by the Wilson family. It presents a fine example of the dwellings of 
the lesser gentry of 300 years ago. Its massive walls, five feet thick, and 
stout oaken beams, give evidence that the builder intended it to serve more 
than one generation of tenants. To see it is well worth a journey to New- 
sham. It has little outward attraction, but the interior examined with a 
reference to the Invent-ory of John Ogle, will amply repay the labour. 

An anecdote in relation to the rebellion of the 'Earl of Derwentwater, 
continued to be told till the beginning of the present century, to the effect 
that Madame Errington, then living in the mansion at Newsham, sympa- 
thising with the Earl's purpose, entrusted Charley Bvers with a large 
amount of gold coin to carry to the Earl to assist in ^s desperate enter- 
prise ; but tradition has it that Charley kept it for his own use ! And as 
the cash had been entrusted to him for a treasonable purpose, Madame 
Errington had no remedy at law. Charley Byers was a well-known indi- 
vidual, a member of an old Blyth family now extinct. 



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16 HISTORY OF BLTTB. 

William Silvertop, Blvth Nook farm £40 

John Clark, Cuthbenson's farm 38 

John Harkness and John Chicken, Great West farm 45 

Philip Jabbf a house and close »< 2 

Kichard Nicholson, the fishery 5 10 

James Blackett, Eleanor Potts, and John Ward, each a cottage a^ 5 

Edward Watts, a coney warren, with 15 acres of land 35 

Bubert Wright and John Spearman, for staith ....100 

The Estate was purchased by Matthew White, Esq., of Blagdon. 

William Silvertop was the son of William Silvertop, 
of Stella, and younger brother of Albert Silvertop of the 
same place, ancestor of the Silvertops of Minsteracres. 
This family is said to have come originally from Blyth; 
but the only occurrence of the name in the registry^ of 
Earsdon is in connection with Backworth, at the other 
extremity of the parish. In 1604, Eobert, son of 
Robert Gold, alias Silvertop, was baptized. William 
Silvertop would reside in an old house built by the 
Ratcliffes, opposite the Star and Garter. The Bljrth 
Nook Farm consisted of those fields now in grass, and 
not included in any of the present farms. He had also 
a farm on Eatcliflfe's estate at Plessy. In the year 1735, 
I find a William Bowman debited with the sum of eight 
shillings and twopence, which had been paid to a person 
for carrying William Silvertop's books to Newcastle. 
William's library, we presume, must have been very 
extensive. At a period when a cart, with two horses 
and the driver, could be hired for four shillings a day, 
eight and twopence for carriage indicates a great weight 
of books. We may fairly give Mr. Silvertop the credit 
of beiQg the first Blyth man who enjoyed the advantage 
of a good library. It is not a little curious that when the 
first Napoleon was in exile at Elba, George Silvertop, 
of Minsteracres, paid him a visits when, in the course of 



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BISTORT OF SLTTff. 17 

OREvertatioii, Buoimparte talked of Blyth witli such » 
fulness of information about the locaKty that Mf * Silver- 
top was surprised to find ^fft Bounaparte kaew mu^ 
more about Blyth than he did who lived so neaip to it. 
Bounaparte's information about Blyth had probably 
been obtained when forming his plans for the invasion 
of England. It was known that he had agents employed, 
during the short peace of Amiens, taking the soundings 
<A the harbours and coasts of Great Britain. And 
certainly Blyth »ands would afford great facilities for 
tha landing of an army. There may have been moreP 
reason fta? the arrangements then made to darry that 
women and children into the interior, in case q£ ant 
invasion, than the public were then aware of. 

That the population of Blyth and Newsham in the 
seventeenth century must have been scanty is sufficiently 
proved by the paucity of entries in the parish registers. 
But that it was so small in 1723, as would appear from 
the foregoing list of tenants, we are not prepared to 
assert. There were only twelve families paying rent, 
but in addition to those no doubt there would be many 
who paid no rent — at least not to the proprietor. The 
farmers would each have hinds living on their holdings, 
and Wright and Spearman of necessity must have em- 
ployed several men in the shipment of coals at their 
staiths, the £100 rent paid by them including the houses 
of their workmen. 

Of the twelve families only one has male representa- 
tives living in the the township at present, Edward 
Watts, the then tenant of the coney warren. Our 
respected townswoman Miss Ogle ia the great grand- 



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18 mSTOR Y OF BL YTH. 

daughter of Philip Jubb; the family of the Jubbs were 
resident in Blyth in 1663. 

The parish rates in the ohapelry of Earsdon were 
levied in proportion to the number of certain farms in 
each township. Of these Newsham contained six and 
two-thirds; Earsdon, eight; Seghill, ten; Burradon, 
five; Seaton, eleven ; Hartley, nine; Holywell, six and 
three-quarters. There is an example in the Newsham 
'and Blyth parish accounts, of that township contribut- 
ing its share of a church-rate according to the above 
rule: "April 27th, 1832, Paid John Cuthbert, churoh- 
oess, for a wall at Earsdon, on six and two-third farmfl 
at £2 Os. 2d.— £13 7s, 9d,'' 




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CHAPTER II. 

Histoty of Blyth Nook, Ancient Stobhill. Origin of the Name. Pre- 
cautions against the Moss-troopers. Extent and continuance of border- 
thieving. Measures of defence. Dunkirk privateer and Dutch ship of 
war. Scots army landed at Blyth. Admiralty map. Custom House. 

SN 1208 we met with the first allusion to what is now 
the town of Blyth. It was then termed "the 
Bnook;" and on again meeting with it it is called 
"Blyth Nook." This name was descriptive of the 
form and situation of the ground on which it stood. 
Blyth continued to be a nook until the enclosure of 
Cowpen Quay. We may realise what was the situation 
of the town in olden time if we imagine the site of 
Cowpen Quay and the ground at Croften Mills to be 
simply a slake, as is now that part lying between the 
railway and Waterloo bridge, and that at high water 
there was a vast expanse of water stretching from the 
bend in the river above the High Pans, covering what 
is now Cowpen Quay, the site of the houses at Waterloo 
bridge, the old Plessey waggon way, and the gardens' 
between the Folly and Crofton, down to nearly the Far 
Pit, so that there was only the ancient Stob Hill and a 
narrow strip of link separating the tide in the river 
from the tide in the gote-side, and thus leaving the 
town standing upon a nook, or comer, in the river. 
Hence it is called Blyth Nook. 

Dr. Dodd, in his review of the former volume in the 
Newasth Joumaly says, " No local history is complete, 
c2 

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20 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

we fancy, without the etymology of the names, an 
account of which it proposes to give. The author does 
not allude to that of Bljrth ; and we sympathise with 
hiTn in this, because it is a difficult one. Four rivers 
in England, enjoy the name of Blyth,. It is, besides, an 
element in the names of a parish and a town. Thd 
name is, therefore, a general one, and means something. 
What is this signification ? Now elhey firom the Latin 
albay means white ; and 6/ is, in all probability, a firag-^ 
ment of the corruption of alb. In Anglo-Saxon, yth 
means a flood or wave ; and, by a slight metaphor, it 
may signify river." If this be so, then Blyth signifies 
" white river." With all proper deference to the learned 
Doctor, we venture to give our opinion that he has not 
succeeded in solving the difficulty said to belong to the 
etymology of Blyth. It certainly cannot mean white 
river ; for there is not the slightest approach to white- 
ness in any part of its course. We opine that the good< 
old Saxon word " blithe," meaning gay, airy, cheerful,: 
gladsome, exactly describes the characteristics of the? 
river in the main portion of its course, but specially fromb 
Stannington to Bedlington iron works. In 1200, ther 
bridge at Stannington is called the bridge of Blye, the! 
next time I meet with the name it is Blithe, then ifc 
becomes Blith, then Bljrthe, and now the spelling has. 
long been established Blyth. 

The liTiVfl and sandhills at the south end of the town?, 
used to be the favourite resort of the population, and^ 
formed a kind of people's park in former times. Tha; 
change that has passed over the entire scene is remark* 
able,— reducbg what had for generations been a pleasaniL 



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kiSTOE r OP BL TTS. 21 

piaoe of resort to a barren and unsightly waste. The 
eminence on whicli the battery stood was of much 
greater extent than at present. Then there was a 
continuation of low hillocks from the Bopery comer to 
the ancient Stob Hill. The first portion of these hil- 
locks was called Eosy-hill, from its being covered with 
bushes of wild briar, and was in summer completely dad 
with roses, which gave colour to the hills. And the rest 
of the links were beautified with clusters of the many 
tiny flowers common to the situation, such as rest arrow, 
ladies' bed straw, ladies' fingers, geranium crane's bill, 
blue bells, yarrow, &c. The whole surface was unbroken, 
and in fine weather afforded a much-frequented lounging 
place, to both old and young. The ancient Stob Hill, 
or, as it would now be called, the Flagstaff Hill, was an 
immense accumulation of sand, blown up into a hill by 
the action of the wind in the course of ages in the far 
past. About 1820 breaches began to be made in it, and 
the strong north-west winds carried it away with sur- 
prising speed, so that in the course of ten or twelve 
years it had become a thing of the past. Its removal 
has entirely changed the aspect of the locality. 

Fcamerly all ingress to the town from the direction 
of Cowpen was suspended at each rising of the tide ; and 
even down to the building of Waterloo bridge, in 184rl, 
isarba, &c., coming from Cowpen when the tide wa8 ftidi 
hid tomake a circuit by way of GnoftCHft 1>ridge, aMentef 
the town by iiie Plessey waggon way. Aft&r Cowpen 
dttay was endosed pedestrians could Wach %!d fcocwn, 
e&m^\ oin extraordinarily high tid&s, by jfe,S6ing A^mig a 
ttotiJ^sd^bHrnn A8 th« ''^^ba& dyke^'^' wA. Iihen ^^omA^ 



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23 HISTORY OF BLYTE, 

the " flanker " by a long narrow wooden foot-bridge, 
stretching from Cowpen Quay to the ballast hills. 

Blyth Nook is mentioned in an old border law, 1662, 
which enjoined that Shotton-dyke-nook should be 
watched nightly by two men, inhabitants of Shotton 
and Hartford ; another watch to be kept at the north 
side of the Down-hill, with two men of Horton and 
Bebside ; and the watch at Lorakin-hill to be kept by 
two men of Blyth Nook and Cowpen. The first two 
places directed to be watched still retain their names ; 
but we have no guide to Lorakin-hill. Indeed there 
does not seem to be a place in either the township of 
Cowpen or Newsham that can be called a hill, unless it 
refers to some of the sand hills. 

George Morton was setter and searcher of the three 
watches, and Liall Fenwiok and John Bell overseers. 
The object of the watches at Shotton and Down-hill was 
evidently to prevent the thieves getting into the ooimtry 
on the south of the Blyth, a district well stocked with 
cattle, and for that reason very liable to a visit from 
the freebooters. Bedlingtou being an important town, 
that circumstance, in conjunction with the absence of 
fords, would render it a rather dangerous experiment to 
cross that part part of the river ; but by making a detour 
through Bedlingtonshire, by the south of the Wansbeck, 
and coming along the links, they, at the right time of 
tide, could easily cross either by the ford at Buck's-hill 
mill or at the shoal opposite the aiicient Stob-hill. 

All these precautionary measures were rendered 
necessary by the predatory habits of the moss-troopers. 
It seems vezy strwge to us to be told that hundreds of 



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mSTOR T OF BL TTB. 23 

people in the western part of tliis ooimty continued foy 
many generations to live by plundering their neigh- 
bours, and that all the power of the government was 
unable to* destroy the evil. But so it was. This state 
of things continued so long, and operated so injuriously 
in retarding the improvement and prosperity of this part 
of the country, that it really demands more than a mere 
passing allusion, and unfortunately there is no lack of 
materials for this purpose. It were easy to fill volxmies 
irom the most authentic sources, but it will suffice for 
, our present object to adduce a few facts illustrative of 
i the state of affairs at the period referred to. 

In a letter written to Cardinal Wolseley, then Bishop 
of Durham, by the Bishop of Carlisle, dated Newcastle, 
17th of June, 1522, he says, "the Lord Eoss, Sir 
William Paxton, Sir Eichard Ellercar, and Sir Eichard 
Tempest, departed from Newcastle this morning with 
five hundred men to Alnwick, where the Lord Dacre 
meets them. The Scotch under the Duke of Albany, 
we hear, are coming to the borders, hut there is more 
theft, more extortion, hy the English thieves, than there is 
by all the Scots in Scotland. There is no man, that does 
not abide in a stronghold, that hath any cattle or move- 
ables in security throughout the bishopric, and from 
the bishopric till we come within eight miles of Carlisle. 
And all Northimiberland likewise, Hexhamshire worst 
of all, for in Hexham itself, every market day, there 
come fourscore or a hundred thieves, and the poor man 
and the gentleman too seeth their goods, and the men 
that did rob them, but dare not complain of them by 
name, nor Bay one word to them. The thieves take all 



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H MISTOB Y OF BL YTS. 

their cattle ^nd korses, and their oom as they tsaaJry i* 
to sow or to the mill to grind. And at their houses 
they bid them deliver what they have, or they will he 
fired and burnt. By these proceedings not being looked 
to all the country goeth to waste. We want, for the 
borders about Carlisle, one thousand bows and as many 
eheaves of arrows." 

In a book written by Grey, called a Survey of New- 
castle, 1549, speaking of the borderers, he says, " There 
are many dales, the chief of which are Tynedale and 
Redesdale, a country that Williajn the Conqueror did 
not subdue, retaining to this day their ancient laws and 
customs. These highlanders are famous for thieving ; 
they are all bred up and live by theft ; they come down 
from these dales to the low country, and carry away 
horses and cattle so cunningly that it will be hard for 
any to get them or their cattle, except they be acqainted 
with some master thief, who for some money may help 
them to their stolen goods." He adds, " there are many 
of them brought to the gaol at Newcastle, and at the 
assizes are condemned and hanged, sometimes to the 
nxmiber of twenty or thirty at a time." So that we are 
not to suppose that the authorities took no measures to 
repress those disorders ; various means were used, but 
without any permanent result. In 1524 Lord Surrey 
sent Sir Ralph Fenwidt with eighty horsemen into 
Tynedale, to apprehend "Will Ridley, a noted chief of 
the freebooters; but Will Charlton, another master 
thief, hearing that Sir Ralph had come into the dale^ 
hastily gathered his followers, of whom it is said he had 
two hundredi who were bound and. Bwoam upon a book 



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EISTOBY OF BLTTS. %6 

to take his part iit all times. With these he attacked 
Sir Ealph, and not only put him from his purpose of 
taking Eidlej, but chased him out of Tynedale ; and, as 
the narrator says, very much to his reproach.* 

Military measures failing, the cardinal tried what the 
thunders of the church could accomplish in restraining 
these wild mountaineers, for those men, though living 
in the habitual breach of all the laws of the deca- 
logue, yet considered themselves good Christians, and 
attended to all the ritual observances of the church. 
But the cardinal effected as little by his interdict as did 
Sir Ealph with his fourscore horsemen, as appears by a 
communication to the cardinal. It says, After the 
Receipt of your grace's order, we caused all the churches 
of Tynedale to be interdicted. This instrument of terror 
in the hands of the clergy of the Church of Eome was 
calculated to strike the senses in the highest degree, and 
to operate on the superstitious minds of the people. By 
ft a stop was immediately put to divine service, and to 
the administration of all the sacraments but baptism. 
The dead were refused Christian burial, and were thrown 
in the ditches and on the highways, without the usual 
rites or any funeral solemnity. Marriage was celebrated 
in the churchyards, and the people prohibited the use of 
meat as in times of public penance. But these unruly 
gons of the ohurch were not to be frightened into habite 

^ Sinoe the above was ])t«pared for the press, the writer has enjoyed fhd 
high gratification of viewing, in the oicture gallery of Wallington Hall, a 
fine painting illustrative of these lawless times, The lady of one of the chief 
moss- troopers is represented as serving to her spouse, amidst his foUowers 
at the festive board, a dish containing a pair of spurs— an intimation per- 
lecdy UBderstood to mean that it was time for him and his f oliowei^ to take 
horse and make a raid into the low country, and harry some cattle-fold, «])d 
ll 4r^«ttiih kw naiuuu «f hdotdteeping. 



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29 SISTOli Y OF BL TTH. 

of industry and honesty by an interdict. They boldly 
disobeyed it, and set it aside. They got a Scotch Mar^ 
says the cardinal's informant, to minister to them their 
communion after his fashion, and Ector Charlton, one 
of their captains, received the parson's dues and appro- 
priated them as he thought right. The cardinal's 
informant concludes by stating that " the interdict stiU 
remaineth in force, and it is good it should do so still. 
We wish your grace would find means that all the 
sacraments should be denied them in Scotland, which 
would sore afi&ight them ; otherwise they will lightly 
esteem this interdiction." But we are not to suppose 
the services that were now being interdicted had been 
performed by a class of godly priests. A Bishop of 
Durham describes the priests of Tynedale and Redes- 
dale as being themselves thieves, and chaplains of 
landowners who were thieves ; as too unlettered to read 
the service books, and as persons of scandalous lives. 

Unfortimately these lawless habits were not confined 
to the people living in the dales. In the Survey of 
1550 it is unequivocally asserted that " the whole coimty 
of Northumberland is much given to riot, specially the 
young gentlemen or headsmen, and divers of them do 
theft and other great offences." In Carey's Memoirs it 
is stated, " Amongst other malefactors were two gentle- 
men thieves, who robbed and took purses from travellers 
on the highways — ^a theft never heard of in those parts, 
before. I got them betrayed, and sent them to New- 
castle, and there they were hanged." 

The watches thus appointed were a portion of a scheme 
of defence against the moss-troopers, that was devised by 



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HISTORY OF BLYTE. 27 

a oommission appointed for the purpose, the articles of 
which were afterwards agreed to and signed by all th^ 
people of rank, property, and influence in the county. 

The measures of defence which they entered into a 
formal agreement to adopt throw considerable Kght upon 
the state of the county at that period. The lands were 
all open and unenclosed. This was considered to afford 
great facilities to the borderers in carrying out their 
depredations. The aspect of the country then must 
have differed widely from its present one. In the 
midst of moor-lands or extensive woods, there was every 
here-and-there the large open pasture and cultivated 
fields of the village ; instead of each farmer's land lying 
altogether as at present they were all intermixed. There 
was one large cultivated field, where each tenant held 
his own portion of arable land, under the name of "ox- 
gangs : " these were without hedge or any division, save 
a strip of grass which bordered each tenant's holding, 
and beyond that was the pasture where the cattle fed in 
common under the charge of the village herd. 

The first measure they devised was to defend the towns 
villages, &c., by enclosing the adjoining lands and divid- 
ing them into small closes or crofts of not more than two 
acres each. The roads were to be made narrow and 
crooked that the enemy may be met at comers, where a 
few men may be able to resist and annoy them by the 
bow. The enclosure to be well defended by a ditch four 
feet deep and six feet broad, and planted with a double 
quickset hedge and some ashes. The second thing to 
be done was that all the town fields for tillage, meadows, 
and pasture, were to be severed from ea>oh other, so that 



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28 HISTORY OF BLTTE. 

ev&cy owner or farmer's land was to lay together, and 
hedged and ditched in like manner. After these there 
were directions for enclosing commons and repairing 
castles, and the agreement is followed by a schedule 
of all the lords, freeholders, &c., in the coimty, that have 
agreed to the execution of the articles, which state, "such 
of them as can write have hereunto subscribed their 
names ; and such other as cannot write have hereunto 
set their mark, and caused their names hereafter to be 
written." And of the one hundred and forty-six persons 
of rank, and property, and influence, who signed the 
above docimient, only fifty-four coidd write their names. 
Among those who coidd not write their names were 
John Ogle, of Newsham, and his son-in-law, Lancelot 
Cramlington, of Blyth Nook. Now, when John Ogle 
oould not write — ^whose father was a knight, and his 
mother a Delaval — ^what would be the state of education 
among the poor ? Indeed at that period it is doubtful 
whether there would be a single individual in Newsham 
or Blyth, who could either read or write. The state of 
education may be inferred from the circumstance, that 
in 1678, there were only twenty school masters in th^ 
whole of Northumberland, North Durham, and Berwick- 
upon-Tweed included; of these eleven were located in 
Newcastle, three in Berwick, two in Alnwick, two in Mor- 
peth, one in Corbridge, and one at Woodhome — 18 in faok 
for ihe four market towns, with only two Hgt the county. 
Martin Garnet, who was elected to serve as a btnrgeBs for 
Berwick, in parliament, in 1572, "with five shillings steiv 
ling p^ day" for hk wages, and frequently repi^esenltod 
tiM t^wu afterwit^ was m^H^ tQ writd MaftttiB^. 



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mSTOBT OF BLYTm » 

"We have now to relate a remarkable breaoli of inter- 
Bational law that took place in Blyth harbour. It waa 
the case of a Holland ship-of-war pursidng a Dunkirk 
privateer into the harbour, where they took forcible 
possession of her, and afterwards took her away. We^ 
have a minute account of the transaction in two docu" 
ments by parties who witnessed the outrage. The firsts 
lain the form of a declaration made, before Sir John. 
Pelaval, knight, justice of the peace, &c., on the 12th 
day of August, 1636, by Robert Gramlington, esq., 
James Sutton, and George Fultherp, all of Newsham, 
The second account is in a letter written by William 
Gamaby, of Bedlington, to the Bishop of Durham. Tha 
enrent occurred during the herring season in the abovet^ 
year. At that time the Dutch were the leading naval 
power in Europe, and carried on their fishing trade with, 
great spirit, wherever fish were to be found, on aU tha 
coasts of northern Europe. Dunkirk at this period 
belonged to Spain, and Spain and Holland being at war, 
the privateer in question had been fitted out at that portr 
and fumidied with letters of marque to make prey of 
the Dutch fishing vessels. Knowing where ttie Dutch'- 
men would be plying their trade, the privateer had coma 
down to this coast, where they committed enormoua 
havoc among the Dutch fishing busses, having capture<| 
^ghty, all of which they had either burnt or sunk, A 
Dutch ship-of-war, though too late to prevent tha 
wholesale destruction of their fishing fleet, came upoi^ 
ttie privateer, who, to avoid being captured by her, 
powerful oiemy, ran for shelter into Blyth harbour in. 
ti^^.e?3^tfi^ion th^t they would be safe, in a neuitzak 



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^0 SISTORY OF BLYTH. 

port. The arrival of this vessel manned with thirty-six 
men, and three guns, had produced quite a sensation in 
the little port. Mr. Cramlington was brought from News- 
ham. He went to the strange ship tg ascertain her character 
and the purpose of her coming into port. They showed 
him their papers to prove that they belonged to Dunkirk 
and had letters of marque from the King of Spain, and 
admitted that they had run into port to escape from 
their enemy, a Holland man-of-war, that was in sight, 
lying before the haven. While Cramlington was con- 
versing with the people the Dutchman came away for the 
harbour, and proceeded as far as he was able to come for 
water, and fired his guns at the privateer, which came 
near, but did not hit her. The Dunkirkers finding that 
their pursuers were bent upon carrying matters to 
extremes, tried to pacify them by liberating ten Dutch 
fishermen who were confined in the hold as prisoners. 
When set free these men went down the shore opposite 
the other ship and beckoned to their friends, who sent a 
boat to them, and after some talk with the prisoners 
went back to their ship, and immediately manned their 
long boat with some thirty men armed with muskets 
and other weapons. The boat then proceeded up the 
harbour to attack the privateer ; seeing this the Dun- 
kirkers opened fire upon the boat which made them retire 
and go back to their own ship, but only to return with 
greater force. This time they landed fifty men, armed 
with " muskets, halberts, and swords," who put them- 
selves in military array, in three ranks, and so marched 
near a half-mile along shore, to the great terror of the 
inhabitants, and came to the side of the haven, and 



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EI8T0R T OF BL YTE: 81 

began to fire on the privateer, which was laid at the 
north side of the harbour ; but finding that the firing 
of small arms was producing little eflFect, they took 
possession of some Blyth fishing boats laying at hand, 
and in these proceeded to cross the river. The Dun- 
kirkers perceiving this deserted their ship, and fled along 
the links. The Dutch seized the ship ; but not content 
with this achievement, about thirty of them were sent 
after their flying enemies. After pursuing them for two 
miles, sounding a trumpet and alarming all the country- 
side, they overtook and robbed divers of them. Ten of 
the privateer's men ran forward till they obtained shelter 
in Bedlington ; a part of their pursuers still followed, 
but Mr. Camaby was able to muster a force sufficient 
to apprehend and put them in prison. In the mean- 
time the Dutch ship went to sea, taking with them 
the captured privateer. They continued at anchor in 
the roads awaiting the return of the men who had 
pursued the fugitives; but after learning what had 
befallen them at Bedlington, the captain wrote a lettter 
to Mr. Camaby demanding the restoration of the men. 
Mr. Camaby engaged to inform him what course would 
be taken by the evening of the following day, and wrote 
to the bishop giving an account of the transaction, and 
urgently pressed the bishop to consider some course to 
be taken in the affair, "seeing," he says, "that the 
whole shire is in great fear and great tix)uble,- and at 
considerable charge with the keep ofthese twenty men." 
Besides, he urges, it is feared that the Hollanders may 
come on shore with their soldiers and take away the 
men by force. Our information about this affair ends 



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SO' SISTOMT OF BL TTEL 

with Mr. Gamabj's letter, bo we cannot tell how Bed** 
lington got rid of its troublesome visitors. 

The Dutch were oanyiag themselves at this time witk 
great insolence in conducting the herring fishery on oiur 
coast. They sent their ships-ofiwar with their fishing- 
smacks or busses, and by the fire of their guns drove the* 
English and Scots from their fishing grounds, on their- 
own coast. For a time the Dutch had paid a.certain sum 
yearly to king James, for the privilege of taking herringarx 
off the coast, but they had now not only ceased to makea 
these payments, but had encroached m other places, and 
had attempted to establish as a point of international law^ 
that the seas and every part of them, wherever salt water* 
flowed, were free to them and other nations, withoutany* 
limitation as to coast lines, &c. The audacious conduoL 
of the Dutch in hostilely entering the little port of Blyth, 
may have hastened the government of king Charles too 
tdik.% measures to bring them to a better behaviour. In the) 
following March, a fleet of sixty sail were got togetiier, 
which, under the command of the Earl of Northumber*' > 
land, seized and sunk a few of the Dutch busses in the 
northern seas. After this assertion-of dominion over theu 
circumjacent seas, the Dutch hastened to acknowledge tha) 
right of our island over its- own bays, friths, andl shores^ 
and agreed to pay Charies jBSQ^OOO a-yaar for liberty- toj 
fish there. 

Nine 'years after the Dutch outrage;, the quite Httleri 
port was agaiu disturbed, this time by theamval of at 
Scottish fleet, with ordnance and suppUes for the Sootr 
aomy then besieging^Neweastile. Thficivil war was nxnr^ 
raging betwQon. Qhaiiai latadtiigipffriiamwri^ whiegQii» 



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mSTORY OF SLTTS. 8S 

J anuary, 1644, a Scottish f6rce for a second time entered 
Northumberland, and soon the whole county fell int<J 
the possesion of the invaders, excepting Newcastle, and 
the castle of Tynemouth. Newcastle was at this timd 
well fortified, and after an inefiecctnal summons, old 
Leslie crossed the river and marched upon Simderland. 
He afterwards proceeded south and joined Lord Fairfax 
under the walls of York. After sharing in the viotoiy 
<5f Marston Moor, he returned to the siege of Newcastle. 
A pamphlet printed in London, by Matthew Walbank, 
1644, has the following paragraph, imder date July 3rd, 
** Eight o'clock last night news came hither (believed to 
be true and certain) that an army of Soots is come into 
Northumberland, to Blyth-nook, of about 12,000 men, 
and that they have already taken Morpeth castle; and 
the Scots lords, and Colonel Clavering with them, have 
itested themselves at Newcastle/' In one point the above 
is incorrect, instead of the Scots taking Morpeth castle, 
Colonel Clavering, of Callaly eastle, a stout royalist took 
it from the Soots. Spalding, who wrote a book about the 
operations of the Scottish army, says, "there was a fight^ 
dbout Morpat in June, where divers of our Scottish foot 
soldiers wereovercomeby the borderers, and strippit out of 
flieir clothes, and arms, and senthame n^fe" The border- 
ers who had so dealt with their prisoners, would be the 
foUowfers of Clavering, who had raised at his own chEUrg^ 
a regiment of horse and another of foot, to sefve king 
Charlesi He died a few week& aftesr this of foveif, brought 
eti by Migiie during the retre^it after the defeat of 
Harsto^ Mooi*. 
Zn ]:66S> the 5^^^ of the gteat pkiglie in L6ild<]^| 



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34 HISTORY OF BLTTH. 

England and Holland were engaged in a fierce naval 
warfare ; and such was the strength of the Dutch nayy 
that it was deemed necessary to have an armed force 
along the coast of Northumberland. Colonel Strother, 
commander of the military force of the county, in a 
letter addressed to the Bishop of Durham, acknowledges 
the receipt of the command of the bishop to go to Blyth- 
nook, but states that he had been previously ordered by 
the Lords Lieutenant of Northumberland to send the 
county militia to the sea coast, and had in accordance 
with the order already sent a company of the militia to 
Blyth-nook, and the rest of the regiment were stationed 
between Seaton Delaval and Warkworth, and the horse 
occupied the coast from Warkworth to Bambrough. He 
informs the bishop further, that he had on the previous 
Monday got the militia company of Norham and 
Islandshire together, and at the urgent request of the 
inhabitants had placed them at Holy Island, the people 
there being sorely afraid that as there were pirates 
haunting the coast, they might some night send men 
on shore and fire the town. 

Blyth-nook contiaued to be a very insignificant place 
till about the commencement of the leist century. By 
an Admiralty map of Blyth harbour, made from surveys 
between 1682 and 1689, there are only a few houses 
indicated where Blyth now stands ; and tradition says 
that four or five cottages that stood behind the churdi, 
and that were pulled down within the last thirty years, 
constituted the Blyth of the seventeenth century. Ac- 
cording to the map referred to there are no quays shown 
on the south bank of the river. There is the Bishop'* 



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M18T0JR r OF BL YTS. 35 

Quay, at tte Knk-end, named on the map Blyth Quay ; 
North Blyth is marked as Blyth Pans ; and the wide 
space above Blyth Pans is marked Blyth Harbour. An 
examination I have been kindly permitted to make of 
the church registers atEarsdon confirms this view of the 
insignificance of Blyth to the end of the sixteenth 
century, as for several years together there are neither 
births, marriages, nor deaths registered for Blyth.* 

At the first sight it seems strange that the Nook had 
been so long neglected as a place for conducting the 
trade of the port. In 1208 it had a salt pans and a 
fishery ; and that 500 years afterwards, when improve- 
ment had been going on everywhere else, it should 
be found so little altered appears difficult to account for. 
But the fact that the Nook was nearly surrounded twice- 
a-day by the tide, and at all times by an almost 
impassable slake, would, with the imperfect modes then 
in use for the transit of coals, render it imperative to 
resort to other places on the river that were more easy 
of access. Hence ships loaded at Coupen Pool, Buck's- 
hill, and North Blyth. 

The pedigree of the Plessis family contains the record 
of a bargain with Magaret, the widow of Eichard de 
Plessis, made in 1349, with Eodger de Widdrington, 

* After the former edition went to press I discovered that in the first 
half of the last century many Blyth families bnried their dead at Horton : 
no doabt the distance being so mach less than to Earsdon would lead to the 
practice. I give a few names that belonged to old Blyth families. 1740, — 
Eleanor, wife of John Swan, and Sarah, wife of Edward Fairf oot, all of 
Blyth. 1741.— Cuthbert, son of Henry Paton. 1745.— Several members of 
the Moss family. 1749. — Wm. Atkinson, surgeon, of Blyth ; and several of 
the Callenders' 1751.— One of the Sibbets. 1751.— Mark Renwick, a 
shoemaker, from Morpeth, who was drowned at ^lyth, July 5th, was buried 
at Horton. 1763.— Edward Fairf oot, of Blyth. At this date the church- 
yard at Blyth was set apart for the burial of the dead. 

d2 



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S6 BISTORT OF BLYTS. 

for a hoiuae and mamtenanoe for her life, which sho^t^ 
'at how early a date sea coal had been worked in the 
mines at Plessy. This lady had probably been occupy- 
ing the manor house up to that time. Widdrington, 
amongst other things, covenanted to allow her £20 a 
year, and to build her a house within " the manor of 
Plessy : " to consist of a hall, a chamber, a pantry, a 
buttery, a brewhouse, and a byre for six cows and their 
calves. The covenant for fuel to be used in the house 
was, that she should yearly have ten wain loads of peat, 
and liberty to pull as much ling as she pleased, on the 
wastes of Plessy and Shotton, besides two chalders (six 
fothers) of sea coal at the mines of Plessy. Pytlaw and 
Pytlaw Strother are names which occur in deeds respect- 
ing this estate made in the time of Henry the 3rd — 
1216 to 1266. These facts show that the coal trade of 
the Port of Blyth had a very early beginning indeed, as 
whatever sea coal was sent from Plessy would be shipped 
on the Blyth : this accords with all that by tradition 
and otherwise has come down to us about the early 
trade of the port. 

Plessy Colliery, in 1663, was in possession of Charles 
Brandling, and until a railway was made from Plessy to 
Blyth the quantity of coal sent by the mode then in use 
must have been very limited. Macaulay, in the fourth 
volume of his History of England, p.321, says, that 
among the many joint stock companies got up in 1692 
was a Blyth Coal Company. Whether the project ever 
came to anything we have not been able to learn, but 
certainly about this period Blyth made a decided start 
m the race of improvement. At the end of thirty yeai» 



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HISTORY OF BLYTB. 87 

Blyth and Plessy are connected by a railway, quays are 
built, and a Custom House established, and the Nook has 
become the centre for the trade of the Port of Blyth. 

The first book kept at the Custom House is in the 
possession of Sir M. W. Ridley, Bart., who has per- 
mitted me to avail myself of the valuable information it 
affords of the trade of the port at that period. It is a 
large book, and had been kept upon the plan of entering 
in three separate divisions of the book, — ^the coasters, 
the ships clearing over-sea, and the imports. There is 
also an account of the ships clearing at Cullercoats, 
which was then attached to the Port of Blyth-nook. 
The book commences with the coasting trade, and im- 
fortunately the pages containing the first ten years are 
lost ; the first entry remaining is in 1733. About half 
way through the book the entries for the over-sea trade 
begin ; the first date is August 7th, 1723. The entries 
of imports, and the clearings at CuUercoats, commence 
at the same date. From August 7th, 1723, to August 
6th, 1724, 78 vessels clear with coals for foreign ports. 
At this time the price of coals on ship-board was nine 
shillings per chaldron. The tax upon the chaldron was 
six shillings. It was divided ruto two portions — ^the 
first under the name of " the old subsidy ; " the second 
as " the new duty." Both were of the same amount^ — 
three shillings each. 



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CHAPTER III. 

Th« Ridley Family become connected with Blyth. Adrertisement. 
Marshall's Family. George MarshalFs poetry.— Extracts from "Cynthia 
and Leonora.*' Ship-bailding. Edmund Hannay. John Clarke. Smuggling. 
Bobert Stoker. Camps. Grand Review. William Robinson. Former 
Shop-keeping. Great lack of house accommodation. Cowpen Colliery. 
Blyth united to the Township of Cowpen by Waterloo bridge and railroad. 
Blyth and its people at the close of the eighteenth century. Superstitions. 
Sheraton's parlour. 

SN 1730 our information respecting the town becomes 
more full and precise. Eichard and Nicholas 
Eidley are then conducting an extensive business as 
general merchants. Besides carrying on Plessy Colliery, 
and bringing the coal to Blyth for shipment, they had 
fourteen salt pans at work, producing more than a 
thousand tons of salt yearly. They had a rafc-yard in 
what is now known as the factory-yard, where, besides 
selling timber and iron, they dealt largely in hops, and 
supplied these articles to all the adjacent country within 
ten or twelve miles. There were brick and tile works at 
what is still known as the Sheds and a Brewery behind 
Queen'sJane. There was a stone quarry in operation 
behind the Star and Garter, out of which was dug all 
the stone of which the old part of the town was built. 
There were lime kilns situated on a sort of creek, that 
extended firom the boat dock to the Star and Qurter, up 
which the small vessels came and delivered the cargoes 
of limestone they brought firom the Durham coast. That 
this trade must have been extensive is proved by the 
£EK)t that in one year coals to the value of £115 15s., at 



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BISTORT OF BtYTH. 89 

4b. 6d. per chaldron, were used m lime-buming. At 
this time Mr. Nicholas Eidley lived at the Link-house, 
in the house where the Rev. Eobt. Greenwood so long 
resided. He was the third son of Nicholas Eidley, who 
was twice Mayor of Newcastle. His son Nicholas was 
an envoy from England to Anne, Empress of Russia. 
He had an estate at WiUimoteswidke ; and died at the 
Link-house, June, 1751. A Captain Ridley lived at the 
Link-house in 1759. I find in that year an account 
paid Joseph Clark for hay delivered at the Link-house 
for Captain Ridley. An account is paid in 1766 for 
Major Ridley. This would be Richard Ridley, who 
died at Edinburgh in 1789 ; he had then attained the 
rank of colonel. 

Mr. Francis Barrow is agent to the Ridleys, and all 
the establishments named above are under his general 
Buperintendance, with a salary of £52 per annum. He 
has under him his brother Edward, as manager of the 
raft-yard, at a salary of £15 a-year ; and James Barnes 
and Gheorge Easterby overlook other departments at a 
salary of 98. per week each. Matthew Tapley is the 
staithman. Mrs. Mary Harrison and John Adon keep 
public-houses. Mrs. Harrison's name frequently comes 
up in business transactions at this period, and appears to 
have been a person of " credit and renown." James 
Todrig and Qturet Heckles are doing mason work. 
Francis Smith, John Lister, and James Cleghom are 
blacksmiths. Thomas Brown and Charles Twizell are 
pilots. Richard Wheatley is a blacksmith at North 
Blyth. 

From this time improvement seems to have gone vezy 



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49 HISTORY QF BLYTH. 

elowly onwardfi. Attempts were mads to win coal m 
what is still called the Pit Field, but without success. Af 
yet there were no people in the town with capital to 
enter into other trades. The Ridleys had hitherto 
found capital to set a-going the several works we have 
named, and so provided employment for a considerable 
number of the labouring class. But wages were small : 
masons and carpenters 18d. a-day ; an unskilled labourer 
had only 8d. a-day. Salaries, as we have seen, were 
/equally low; and as the income of the bulk of the 
population would be at this low rate, capital must havo 
^.ocumidated very slowly. 

The following advertisement, which appeared in th^ 
Newcastle Journal, January 7th, 1744, is an attempt to 
draw the attention of capitalists to Blyth : — 

AT BLYTH, a Good Sea-port in Northumberland.— 
^^ Good Conyenience for carrying on any TVade, with liberty to build 
WarehooseSf GranarieSf and other things necessary. Also, a New Wind- 
mill, bailt with stone, and well-accustomed. A Fire stone Quarry, for 
Glass-house Furnaces. A Draw Kiln for burning Limestones. Two large 
Sheds for making Pan-tiles and stock Bricks, with a good seam of Clay for 
that purpose. Also, at Link-house, one mile from Blyth, a large New Malt" 
ing, well supplied with Water. 

Enquire at Link-house aforesaid, or of Matthew Bidley, Esq., Newcastle. 

We do not apprehend that this advertisement drew 
many capitalists to Blyth. Gteorge Marshall came to 
Blytii shortly after this time. He got the raft-yard 
into his hauds, and he ^nd his family held it for threes 
quarters of a century. Qe became a shipowner, and 
built the house now known as the Bidley Arms, for ^ 
jEamily residence. His sons Mark and John were amcmg 
the chief people in the town, and had several ships. 
Mark ipomed on the zaft-yard, and John theiopexy aow 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 41 

held by Mr. Watts. Mark was in a deolining state of 
health when the great contested election of 1826 took 
place. He was induced to go to Alnwick to record his 
vote, but did not live to return; he died on his way at 
Felton. John had died some time before. 

Gteorge Marshall had a third son named after himself. 
He left Blyth early in life to enter the sea service of the 
Honorable East India Company. He was a man of high 
character and considerable ability, but unsuccepsfol in 
his secular pursuits. In 1812 he published a volume of 
Poems, a quarto of 212 pages, to which is annexed a list 
of eighteen hundred subscribers of one guinea each. The 
principal poem is entitled "Cynthia and Leonora," and 
is descriptive of a voyage to and from the East Indies. 
He is also author of "Letters from an Elder to a 
Younger Brother." As the book is now rarely to be 
met with, I have annexed two specimens of his poetry, 
as a small memorial of a worthy townsman: 

A PASSAGE FBOM 6E0E6E MARSHALL'S POEH, 

E17TITLED 

"CYNTHIA AND LEONORA." 

Rail, Sovereign Ooodness ! all-prodactiTe mind, 

On all-Thj works Thyself inscribed we find ! 

How different all ! how variously endowed. 

How great their number ! and each part how good. 

How perfect, then, does the great Parent shine. 

Who, with one act of energy divine. 

Laid the vast plan, and finished the design. 

Where'er the pious search my thoughts pursue. 

Unbounded Goodness opens to my view f 

Nor does our world alone its influence share, 

Exhaustless bounty and unwearied care 

Extend through all th* infinitude of space^ 

And circle nature with a wide embrace ; 

The teeming wonders of the deep below, 

Thy pf^wer, thy wisdom, «cd thy |;oodAtM fhow 



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} 



42 HISTORY OF BLTTH. 



Here various beings withont nnmber straj. 

Crowd the profound, or on ihe surface play. 

Leviathan, the mightiest of the train, 

Enormous, swims incumbent on the main. 

And foams, and sports, unrivalled in his reign ! ) 

All these thy watchful Providence supplies, 

To thee alone thev turn imploring eyes ; 

For all thou open st thy benignant store, 

Till Nature satisfied demands no more. 



\ 



LEONORA TO CYNTHIA, ON HIS RETURN 
FROM AN UNFORTUNATE VOYAGE, 

No more, fond partner of my soul, 

At disappointmeni grieve. 
Can flowing tears thy fate control, 

Or sighs thy woes relieve I 

Adversity is virtue's school, 

To those who right discern ; 
Do thou observe each painful rule, 

And each hard lesson learn. 

When wintry clouds obscure the sky, 

And heaven the earth deforms, 
If fixed the strong foundations lie, 

The castle braves the storms. 

Thus fixed on Faith's unfailing rock, 

May'st thou endure awhile 
Misfortune's rude, imi)etuous shock. 

And glory in thy toil. 

HI fortune cannot always last, 

But if it should remain. 
Yet dost thou every moment haste 

A better world to gain. 

Where calumny no more shall wound. 

Or faithless friends destroy. 
Where Innocence and Truth are crowned 

With never-fading joy. 

Let us, my love, still kiss the rod. 

We've better things in view. 
Next to my hopes in thee, my God, 

liy soul lookis up to you. 



There is no reason to believe that any ships were 
built at Bljrth before the middle of the last century. 



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BISTORT OF BLYTE. 43 

The first person we have found doing carpenter work is 
Henry Clark, who from time to time receives certain 
sums from the Plessy coal office for repairing keels. In 
the raflf-yard ledger for 1739, Henry Clark and James 
Knox, carpenters, each have an accoxmt for wood, but to 
a very trifling amount. In Knox's account are twelve 
hand-spokes, 5s. In Oct., 1765, there is this entry in the 
Plessy accounts — " Paid Henry Clark's funeral expenses, 
to his wife Barbara Clark, one pound one shilling." 
Whether this was an act of respect to an old servant, or 
he had lost his life in their employment by some mis- 
chance, does not appear : but we may gather from the 
fact that his worldly position was not a very elevated 
one. The number of ships then using the port would 
need the services of Clark and Knox to effect the little 
repairs that would from time to time be needed, and 
they may have built craft of the class of the Woodcock, 
but nothing that deserved the name of a ship. 

Mr. Edmxmd Hannay was the first person who carried 
on the trade of ship-building in the port. He was in 
the town in 1750 ; in the August of that year we find 
his name in the Custom House as bondsman for the 
Constant Ann, of Scarbro', for London, with 79 chal- 
drons of coals and 3 tons, 13 cwt. 3qrs. 131bs. of British 
stript tobacco stalks. From very small beginnings he 
rose to considerable eminence as a builder. He continued 
the business for about fifty years. The vessels he built 
were highly prized ; the materials out of which they 
were constructed were of the best description ; and the 
workmanship was attended to with the utmost care. 
One man did all the caulking, another drove all the 



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44 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

treenails, and marvellous were the tales about the length 
of time some of his crack ships went without needing to 
be pumped ; in some cases as much as seven years elapsed 
before they required caulking. 

Hannay must have acquired wealth very rapidly, as 
by the year 1780 he not only was the owner of several 
ships but had purchased the estate long known as Han- 
jiay's Farm firam an old family named Preston, whose 
property it had been for a very long period. Mr. 
Hannay had two sons but outlived them both ; they 
died unmarried, one in January, the other in May, 1791. 
He also had two daughters, one of whom was married to 
Edward Watts, of Blyth, ship-builder, great grandfather 
to Mr. Edmund Hannay Watts, the present possessor 
of the farm. Mr. Hannay resided for very niany years 
in the three-storied stone house facing the sea, at th^ 
lane end. His building yard was at the end of the low 
quay, long known as the Low Yard. 

Edmund Hannay belonged to Cupar, in Pifeshire, 
He was working in Leith as a shipwright, when the re-» 
beUion of 1745 took place. By the derangement of 
trade produced by the rebellion he was driven to seek 
his fortune in England, and as he proceeded southward 
he found it an unfavourable time for a Scotsman to travel^ 
the feverish state of the public mind produced by th9 
rebellion, caused him to be looked upon with sui^icion, 
fio that by the time he reached Bothal, he felt it 
necessary to secrete himself among the ruins of Bothal 
Castle. Hannay, after being in concealment some time^ 
ventured some distance down the Wansbeok, where h» 
#ncou9tered Justice WatsoBi pf North S^tdl^ whQ^ 



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mSTORY OF BLTTE. 45 

supposing him to be a fugitive rebel, made an attempt 
to apprehend him. Hannay fled across the river ; the 
Justice, who was mounted on a pony, in attempting to 
follow him stuck fast in the mud. The Justice shouted 
to the fugitive to stop and help him out of the river. 
Hannay seeing his pursuer incapable of following him 
ceased to flee, and after some parley ventured to return 
and help to extricate the horseman. This act of the 
young Scotsman won the good opinion of Watson, who 
became his friend. He set him to work to build a boat : 
his abilities as a workman pleased Watson, who then 
employed him to build a sloop. Watson was then a 
young man, and had begun those commercial enterprises 
which he so successfully continued for the remainder of 
his long life. Hannay, however, had an eye towards 
Bljrth, as a rising place, and where he would have a 
fairer prospect of succeeding as a ship-bmlder. We find 
him settled at Blyth in 1760. 

Mr. John Clark came to Blyth in 1760, a poor lad ; 
and when he died, in 1809, had accumulated an immense 
fortune. He commenced rope-making in a small way, 
in the premises now occupied by Mr. Smith. To this 
he shortly added sail-making, and presently entered 
into shipping. Cowpen Colliery soon after it was 
opened fell into his hands ; everything he engaged in 
fieemed to prosper, and wealth rolled in upon him im 
abundance. He married a daughter of GFeorge Marshall, 
and commenced housekeeping in the first house beyond 
the diuroh, that has been so long occupied by Mr, 
Bobert Thrift's family. Bi 1771, in an account between 
6ir M. W. Bidl^y's sg«nt^ Bo^^r Shotton, and Joktf 



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46 HISTORY OF SLTTS. 

Clark, we find this item : " To one and a quarter 
year's rent for the house you live in, the rope-walk, and 
warehouse, £15." He afterwards built himself a house 
at Crofton, besides which he occupied Bebside HaU, and 
drove his coach when I knew him. He had a numerous 
family, but his sons did not inherit their father's power 
of retaining money ; for with them " riches did make to 
themselves winggr and flee away." 

The other famlies, who from the middle to the end 
of the last oentuary rose to a degree of wealth and im- 
portance in the town, were those of of Robert Briggs, 
William Hairison, Thomas Gfibson, Edward Wright, 
and Matthew Wilson. These had all been bred to the sea, 
and from being masters of ships became owners. 

Smuggling extensively prevailed in this country during 
the last century. It so far prevailed when Mr. Pitt be- 
came premier in 1784, that the loss to the revenue from 
this source was two millions annually, or one-seventh 
of the national income. Of tea alone, six and a half 
million pounds were run ashore, more than half of the 
entire consumption. The declared importation of French 
brandy was six hundred thousand gallons, while the 
quantity smuggled was estimated at four millions. 
Blyth had its full share of this contraband trade, and 
was carried on by many of the chief people of the neigh- 
bourhood. There were smuggling luggers regularly 
engaged in the trade ; they had connexions at certain 
parts of the coast, who assisted them to run their cargoes, 
and dispose of them to the consumers. Fifty years since 
many stories were still afloat about the smuggling of 
past times, including the names and doings of various 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 47 

parties who had been engaged in the traffic. Robert 
Briggs was understood to have profited largely by this 
means, and he and Roger Shotton more than once, in 
altercations they had in public, each accused the other 
of having made their money by smuggling, and it was 
quite imderstood to be so. Briggs was originally master 
of a stone-boat, which brought limestones from the 
Durham coast, and delivered it in the upper part of the 
harbour, at such points as suited the farmers, who burnt 
it and applied it to their land. He would occasionally, 
when he met with a smuggling vessel, take on board a 
loading of spirits, &c., covering them over with stones, 
taking care to come into the port at a time of the tide 
that would permit him to proceed at once up the river, 
to where he was accustomed to take stones, and so 
deceive the custom house officials. The eccentric Mr. 
Sidney, who then lived at Cowpen, occasionally found 
the cash to pay for these cargoes, and shared in the 
profits. Roger Shotton was agent to the Ridley 
family, and had many opportimities of doing a little 
smuggling, of which he availed himself. But these were 
not the only persons of their grade who were engaged 
in these transactions. It was the well-to-do portion 
of the commimity who consumed the tea and the brandy 
— small share of either fell to the working class one hun- 
dred years ago. Indeed had it not been that the gentry 
and farmers considered they had an interest in smug- 
gling, by getting the articles cheaper, the parties 
engaged in vending the uncustomed goods could not 
have travelled through the country unhindered. Robert 
Stoker tried his luck in this dangerous game, but not 



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48 SIS TOR Y OF SL YTS. 

with much success; he made some sad failures, but vrsa 
wont to tell with great glee how he outwitted the oflBlcerff 
of customs on one occasion. He had come into port 
with a considerable quantity of contraband spirits on 
board, and had formed a plan to take advantage of the 
oflBlcers' love of strong drink to put them in a condition 
that would disqualify them from attending to duty. Mr. 
Stoker ordered the cabin boy to fill the tea kettle with 
gin, and place it where it might readily be laid hold of. 
When the officers came on board they were as usual in- 
vited into the cabin to have a dram before making their 
search. After being seated with the brandy bottle before 
them, there was found to be a lack of water. Stoker 
called to the cabin boy to bring water, but he had been 
instructed not to attend the call; the captain, how- 
ever, bethought him that there might be water in 
the kettle, and, directing one of the company where 
to find it, fortunately, as was thought, it held 
water in abundance. The officers after adding gin to 
their brandy, began to imbibe the potent stuff. They 
were easily prevailed upon to try another glass, and 
presently they were in as helpless a condition as Stoker 
could wish. He then got the boat alongside, put the 
kegs in it, and had them presently out of the reach of 
the customs. Robert Stoker was a man of mark in his 
day. He was considered a shrewd clever man, but was 
thought to have got into litigation ofbener than was good 
for his purse. His -Wqa grandfather to Mr. Woolhouse, 
the celebrated mathematician, whom the "folk of 
Shields" claim as one of the notabilitieB their toWn hot 
produced. 



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mSTORT OP BLTTm 4d 

Th^^e has no doubt been smuggling carried on here 
»ince those days, but upon a very reduced scale* For 
the last thirty years the Preventive Service has had a 
station at Blyth ; but before that, other causes had brought 
smuggling down to a laifling amount. 

In the years nQb-^Q*-! portions of the Brittish Army 
-were encamped in the neighbourhood of Blyth. In 1795 
there were six regiments encamped between the North 
Farm and CoWpen* Two of the Infantry regiments, 
the 55th and 84th, had been with the Duke of York, 
during the campaign in Holland^ the year before, and 
had endured all the hardships of the terrible winter 
retreat through Holland to the north of Germany, whence 
they had been brought, in transports, to the Tyne, in 
the spring of 1795, and sent forward to Cowpen Camp* 
There were also two regiments of Light Dragoons, the 
7th and 16th; the Leicestershire Militia, and a portion 
of the Eoyal Artillery* Between GHo'ster Lodge and 
Lysdon, the West York Militia, the 44th, and 115th 
(or Duke of GHo'ster's) regiments were encamped. The 
21st (or Beaumont's bay horse), lay in the field in front 
of GHo'ster Lodge. 

On the 28th of August the Duke of York, accompa- 
nied by the Duke of GHo'ster, reviewed the troops 
encamped on the coast of Northumberland* The whole 
force consisted of thirteen regiments of horse and foot, 
comprising seven thousand men, took ground on Blyth 
sands, extending, when in line, about three miles* 
Precisely at seven o'clock, the Duke of York, attended 
by Gheneral Sir William Howes, conunander of the 
northern district, came upon the ground, and rode along 



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60 EI8T0RY OP BLYTH. 

the line ; after which the army went through various 
evolutions and firings, accompanied by the field and 
flying artillery, and at eleven o'clock the review con- 
cluded. This grand military spectacle, being so novel 
in this part of the country, attracted an immense num- 
ber of spectators, calculated to amount to thirty thousand. 
There were on the ground many persons of rank ; among 
whom were the Duke of Norfolk, Lords Scarbro', Fau- 
conberg, Mulgrave, and Dundas ; and Grenerals Smith 
and Balfour. The grand review was long talked of in 
the town by those who witnessed it, as the great event 
of their lives. 

In 1796 the East Middlesex Militia were encamped 
on the links above the High Pans ; and in 1797 two 
kilted regiments, the Eothsay and the Caithness Fen- 
cibles, the light companies of the 35th foot, the 
Westminster, North Lincoln, Surrey, and Cheshire 
MiHtias, lay between the Link-house and Meggy's 
Bum; the Mid-lothian Light Dragoons lay in the 
Staith-field, and the Berwickshire Light Dragoons lay 
along the east and north sides of the Link-house gardens. 
The old tradesmen used to refer to the time of the Camps 
as the golden age of business in Blyth. Such a number 
of people being brought to the neighbourhood turned 
the little out-of-the-way town upside down, and made 
money plentiful to a degree as had not been previously 
known. None profited more by the increase of business 
than William Bobinson ; he now got raised above his 
original poverty, and henceforth took his position as the 
leading tradesman in the place. He was Qriginally a 
barber; he came from Bedlington wl^en a young man 



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, EI8TQEY OF BLYTE: 51 

and oonuneneed sha^g in a small place that stood on 
part of what is now the Star and Garter yard, but for 
many years he conducted his business in the shop in 
Northumberland-street, now occupied by Mr. Cairns, 
iuid there he aceumulated a fortune. He added to his 
first trade that of ironmonger, stationer, deaieor in hats 
and shoes, and leather^seller ; after he got advanced in 
life he gave up hairdressing, but continued his other 
trades till his death. He was a good-looking, well-made 
man,, and though no fop, was always well and tastefully 
dressed, and of steady and temperate habits. He was a 
bachelor ; and when twitted about his single-blessedness 
used to reply that bachelors were of great service in 
bringing up other people's diildren I He brought up 
and educated three ohildreQ belonging his sister, and 
gave each of them a respectable start in life. 

Tip to this time there were but few shopkeepers in the 
town, and they had not yet begun to try to attract 
customLcrs with plate glass windows and flaming adi- 
vertisements. Pearson's family had long kept a shop 
in the imder part of the building now occupied by the 
Mechanics' Institute. At the end of the century the 
business was in the hands of Die Gibson and her sister, 
Miss Pearson, and they kept up the good old family 
custom of bolting the door when about to sit down to 
their meaLs ; and whoev^ came might knock as long as 
they pleased, the IMies would not stii* until they had 
comfortably discussed their meal ! It used to be said of 
Mrs. Newton, who kept a shop a few doors from the 
former, that when a customer came in after she had bch 
gun tea, she would very blandly i^y> - ^Ye see hinney, 

e2 

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62 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

Fm btsy with my tea; come back again when I*m 
done!" But indeed, neither buyer nor seller were in 
such haste as at present. 

Population still kept increasing, while house-building 
was at a stand-still. Towards the end of the century, 
and for many years afterwards, families were crowded 
into single rooms; eveiy garret had its tenant, and in 
various parts of the town there were very strange 
dwelling places. At this period people marrying had to 
seek a dwelling in some of the neighbouring villages. We 
have the fact from Mr. John.Watts, that when his parents 
were married, they could not get a house to put their 
heads in nearer than Hartford. His father was a seaman, 
and it may be judged how inconvenient such a state 
of things must have been; but indeed a great many 
seamen's families were living at Bedlington, Cowpen, 
Cambois, &c. 

Taking a review of the progress of the town and port 
up to 1794, we discover no increase in the exportof coal. 
In 1734, 29,777 chaldrons were brought from Plessy to 
Blyth, while in 1794 the quantity was 26,343. A good 
many houses had been built, and of a better class, but 
stiU fex short of the wants of the population. In ship- 
ping a considerable increase had taken place, and instead 
of one vessel — ^the Olive Branch of 42 chaldrons, as in 
1750 — ^there were in 1793, thirty vessels belonging to 
the port, carrying 2,300 chaldrons; besides which there 
were three firms engaged in ship-building, two roperies^ 
three or four sailmakers, block and mast makers, &c., so 
that the town had made satis£BU3tory progress in the 
accumulation of property. 



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HIS TOR Y OF BL TTH. 58 

In 1794 a great change began in the adjoining town- 
ship of Cowpen. A colliery was commenced within a 
mile of the town, which at once brought a large increase 
of population and trade. An act of parliament was 
obtained, and Cowpen Quay was erected, and the space 
now covered with houses was enclosed. It was several 
years before it was sufficiently filled up with ballast to 
prepare it for building upon; and, besides, it was only 
accessible from Blyth by a long, crazy wooden bridge. 
In 1810 house-building commenced at Cowpen Quay. 

Two or three years later, when Plessy Colliery was 
discontinued, a railroad was made to connect Cowpen 
Colliery with Blyth, as we have it at the present time, 
and instead of the coal being shipped at Cowpen Quay 
it was sent to Blyth, and thus opened out a road which 
still continues to present the readiest means of com- 
munication between the two places. About the same 
period Waterloo bridge was built, and a new road was 
made from the brew-house to Cowpen south pit, which 
at once imited the township of Cowpen to that of Blyth. 
House-building now went on with great spirit, both at 
Waterloo and Cowpen Quay, the tenure of the land on 
that side being preferred to that of Blyth. How much 
may at times be effected by the erection of a bridge, or 
the opening out of a new road, though in this case th^ 
projectors of these improvements never contemplated the 
results which followed. Their object was to connect 
Blyth with the Morpeth and Shields turnpike; and 
while they realized their purpose, they at the same time 
opened the way to an abundance of building sites, that 
were to be had upon favourable terms, the want of which 



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54 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

had fa^retofor^ been thegi«at hindrance to the extensioii 
of the town. 

Having brought down the general history to the con« 
dufiion of the dghteenth oentuiy, ire shall here make a 
few observations on the state of the town, and its people* 

The town had be^i built with a singular disregard to 
plan. It is, indeed, diffioult to aooount for the odd way 
in which the several clusters of houses have been placed 
in relation to each other. Those who had hitherto had 
the ordering of these matters must have had a strong 
aversion to continuous lines of streets; and to judge of 
their design by the results, it must have been to exhibit 
as many gables as possible; and in this they succeeded 
most admirably! 

The town in 1800 was chiefly on the south side of the 
Wagon-hiU (now Market-street), and but trifling change 
has been efiected in that portion of the town since, the 
biiilding of Eidley-street and the west side of Church- 
street, forming about the only noticeable improvement. 
The main street was in a most filthy condition; the car* 
riage road had never been laid, and in winter, or rainy 
seasons, there were only three places between the 
Wagon-hill and news room where you could pass from 
one side of the street to the other, and these paths were 
only kept open by a constant application of coal ashes. 
Indeed the street was a common receptade for all 
matter that householders wished to get rid of. 

Country roads were bad everywhere at this time, and 
Blyth was peculiarly iU provided with the means of 
eommunication with other towns. The roads to Shields 
were much in the same state as they had been in the 



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mSTORY OF JSLTTm 68 

tim6 of the Eomans. At the time of Blyth camps an 
ordnance bridge was erected over Meggy^s bnm, 
towards the cost of which £100 was contributed out of 
the county rate : but it was built at an insufficient ele- 
vation, and its position exposed it to the action of the 
sea, whenever a high surf occurred during large tides. 
From this cause it was soon rendered useless either for 
vehicles or pedestrians* The road (or rather, track) 
along the links was all but impassable, especially be- 
tween the two Knk-houses* The cart road was shiftable 
whenever the ruts on the road in use became so deep as 
to be up to the axle; then another track was taken 
nearer to the hills; when this became as bad as the for- 
mer, the same expedient was resorted to; and thia 
process went on till they had got close to the hills. 
When matters had got to this pass, the old track next 
to the fields, owing to the sand of which it was com- 
posed having fallen into and filled up the old ruts, was 
prepared for use again; and so it went on as it had done 
for generations. And such is the power of habit in re- 
conciling us to the greatest inconveniences, that no 
serious attempt was made to apply a remedy to this 
state of things, till a change in the tenant of the Link- 
house farm took place. Mr. Robson, the new tenant, 
having been used to better roads, felt the inconvenience 
of the bad ones, and set himself earnestly to have them 
mended, by inducing the ratepayers of the township to 
jsubmit to a fourpenny rate for the formation of a road. 
This was about fifty years since ; and the road leading 
to Oowpen passed over the Water-course at the Goteside, 
c^posite where, what was the United Presbyteriaa 



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6ft EI8T0R Y OF BL TIE. 

ohapel, yet stands, by a ford for carriages, and stepping 
stones for pedestrians, and then made their way as best 
they could by a most wretched road to Crofton Mills. 

The population amounted at the census of 1801, to 
1171, and the population that had been brought together 
had very much bettered their condition. They were not 
a half-employed, poverty-stricken race ; they had plenty 
of work at greatly advanced wages — ^in many cases wages 
had trebled, and in all cases were at least doubled since 
1760, thereby greatly increasing the comfort of the 
working class. No doubt many desirable things were 
yet absent, that have since been put within their reach; 
but all enduring improvements are slow in maturing, 
and it is pleasant to note that the advance then gained 
in the working man's position has never been lost. And 
from this class all the men of wealth and influence then 
in the town had sprung. At that time the terms " Mr." 
and "Mrs," had not come into common use among the 
good people of Blyth; hence, in speaking of the princi- 
pal people of the town, they would say, Jaokey Clark, 
Markey and Jackey Marshall, Billy Bnggs, Neddy 
Wright, Tommy Harrison, WiUey Eobinson, and so on. 

During the last half of the eighteenth century there 
was gradually growing up — ^what eventually became, 
and has continued to be — ^the chief investment for capi- 
tal, and source of employment for the people, the 
Shipping Trade. While in 1750 the entire capital in- 
vested in the only ship belonging to the port, the Olive 
Branchy would not exceed £300, in 1800 the value of 
the shipping belonging to Blyth could not be less than 
£50,000. There is one drcumstanoe affecting the trade 



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HISTORY OF BLYTB. 57 

of Blyth that deserves attention ; it is tins, that the 
chief fortunes that have been made ia the town have all 
been taken out of it. The first family of shipowners we 
know of, Jacob Lee's, withdrew their money from ship- 
ping and invested it in land. The only portion of Mr. 
Hannay's acquisitions that remained in the neighbour- 
hood was also put into land. The Twizells' money went 
out of the town; so did also Eobert Briggs', and 
the Marshalls'; and of the immense fortune acquired by 
John Clarke, all went elsewhere ; besides many others 
of lesser note that we could name. In looking at these 
facts we cannot help speculating what might have been 
the position of the town, if the money that has been 
made in it had been employed in shipping, and other 
productive trades in connexion with the port. What an 
immense money-power would have now been residing 
in the town ! — ^a sufficiency to build docks, or make any 
other improvements the convenience of trade or the 
wants of the public required. The town has been very 
much in the position of an individual who, after acquiring 
wealth very rapidly, has suddenly lost it, and has started 
again and again with the like result. 

The last sixty years have swept away a number of 
opinions and traditions that had possessed the popular 
mind for many ages. The belief in ghosts was almost 
universal when I was a boy; all the people about me 
spake of ghosts with as entire a belief in their existence 
as they did in a race of black men in Africa; and end- 
less were the ghost stories that were current. Tell- 
ing stories of this kind was a common way of beguiling 
the long winter evenings. I can wiell recollect in mj 



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68 mSTORY OF BLTTm 

youth sitting with breathless attention to the recital of 
tales of wraiths having been seen when certain persona 
were about to die, and the various circumstances connec- 
ted with them would be related with the utmost mi- 
nuteness; or if the conversation was commenced by a 
ghost story, then one and another would tell a tale to 
match it; thus the evening would pass away, and my im- 
agination had become so excited by listening to these 
supernatural tales, that I durst not encounter the danger 
of going home myself in the dark. Respecting some of 
the other old superstitions, though many of their legeii,ds 
were stiU retained in the memories of the people, yet 
a belief of their reality was fast passing away — ^thus 
tales of witchcraft were still told, but generally as mjrths* 

The story of one of the Delavals capturing a witch 
while practising her evil arts in Benton Church, and 
how she was afterwards burnt; and the wonderful ex- 
ploits of Meg of Meldon; were always favourites among 
tales of this class. Some believers of fairies still lingered 
on earth. A very old woman that lived next door to 
my father, stood to it to the last, that when milking the 
cows when a young woman she had seen the fairies. 
There used to be a tale current in the town, that one of the 
Hoppers, of the Queen's-lane, once when drying her wash- 
ing of clothes on the green, where Bath-row now stands, 
had a visit from the fairies, attired in green, as the little 
people invariably were when they appeared to mortals. 

My impression as to the state of education in Blyth 
fifty years ago, as far as regards the ability to read, 
write, and cypher went, is that it was not very defective. 
Thei^ w^re but few families that did not send their 



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HISTORY OF BLTTS. 59 

children to school, but the means of obtaining infor^ 
mation was sadly behind what they are at the present 
time. As to newspapers, they were very rare; a few 
copies of the Courant and Chronicle came to WiUey 
Bobinson's, by a pedestrian newsman from Newcastle 
on Saturdays, making the circuit of the villages between 
Blyth and Newcastle; coming by one route and return- 
ing by another. But as to books there were no public 
libraries, and private ones were very scantily supplied. 
The only public affair which excited attention at that 
time was the great war England was waging against 
the French under the first Napoleon. 

During the stirring time of the wars of the French 
B^volution, Sheraton's parlour at the Star and Ghtrter 
was the news-room. Mr. Sheraton took in Lloyds^ 
Evening Poatj the only London paper then coming to 
Blyth. All who took an interest in public affairs re- 
paired to the Star and Qurter to hear the news. Old 
Ebenezer Kell, a custom house officer, read the paper 
aloud, while the company sipped their grog and smoked 
their pipes. Mr. Kell sustained the office of reader for 
many years, and in this fashion made known to the 
lieges of Blyth, the wonderful campaigns and startling 
events in the history of the first Napoleon, as well m 
the naval victories of Nelson, and England's other gal- 
lant seamen: and in the later years of the war, the 
successful campaigns of Wellington, the reverses of the 
" Corsican woK" — ^from the destruction of his grand army 
in the disastrous retreat from Moscow, to the final over- 
throw of his power on the field of Waterloo, and his 
being Inrought a fugitive to Plymouth in the BeUerophon. 



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CHAPTER rV. 

Blyth in time of War. Privateen. Press-gang. Yolanteers. French- 
men taken on Plessy waggon-way. Blyth ships captured. John Campbell 
and Paul Jones. Hemy Wallace. William Morton. Robert Nicholson. 
John Simpson. 

fOWEVER it might be with the inhabitants of 
inland towns in time of war, it was ever present 
to the minds of the population of the sea-ports. Seamen, 
when at sea, were daily in danger of being captured by 
a French privateer, and carried off to a French prison, 
there to pine away long years m captivity ; and they 
were equally in danger, when in harbour, of being torn 
away by a press-gang, and made to serve on board a 
man-of-war for any length of time the exigencies of war 
required, and at an amount of pay that if he had a family 
at home they would be obliged to seek relief from the 
parish. Then there were a number of Blyth ships em- 
ployed by the government in the transport service ; some 
or other of our ships were engaged in nearly every 
military expedition England sent forth. In this way 
we had vessels in the Duke of York's expedition to 
Holland ; at the bombardment and taking of Copen- 
hagen ; in the disastrous Walcheren expedition Blyth 
ships were at Corunna, to embark the British army at 
the close of the celebrated retreat imder Sir John Moore ; 
and during the remainder of the Peninsular war a great 
many of our ships were constantly employed in carrying 
troops or munitions of war to the scene of conflict. 
Three Blyth vessels were driven on shore at one time in 



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HISTORY OP BLTTS. 61 

a gal© of wind, and wrecked at Passages, when attending 
upon Wellington's army, then invading France* These 
were the Bedlington Ann, the Three Staters, and the 
Ceylon. And several were employed in carrying troops 
and supplies to the British army that fought the battle 
of Waterloo; and thus the population was mixed up, 
and familiarised, with war. Indeed those who grew up 
to majihood during the twenty years' conflict came to 
look upon war as the normal condition of things* 

We proceed to give a few incidents of war affecting 
Blyth, and a notice of Blyth men who took jpart in some 
of England's great naval battles. 

In looking over the local newspapers of the last 
century we find constantly recurring notices of the 
presence and depredations of French privateers on the 
coast, keeping the populations of the sea-ports in a con-* 
stant state of alarm. We will give the substance of the 
paragraphs bearing on this subject during the latter 
part of 1761. In the Newcastle Intelligencer, of July 
28th, it is said that the Smft, of London, from Virginia, 
had been chased from Dunstanborough Castle by a 
privateer. While the chase was in progress the Corona-* 
turn, fi^m Ghreenland, came to the aid of the Stvi/tf 
when the privateer thought it prudent to sheer off. 
The accoimt closes by stating that the same privateer had 
been captured by an English man-of-war, of 20 guns, 
which had passed by Tynemouth bar with the prize. lu 
September it is stated, On Monday there was an engage- 
ment off Bambro', between two ships, which lasted for 
three hours, but at so great a distance from the shore 
that the people there can give no particulars, but tbai^ 



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62 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

one of them stnick and was oamed off by the other 
to the south. On the same date we have this piece 
of news : " On Thursday last a vessel was taken off 
Hartley Bates by a French privateer. A message was 
immediately sent to the captain of the ^/(i^iaroz^^^, man- 
of-war, then riding off Tynemouth; he slipped his cable 
and went in chase of the privateer, and will doubtless 
take her." The following week there is a letter fipom 
Lesbury, stating, "On Thursday last the Friendship^ of 
Alnmouth, captain Turner, was taken between Simder- 
land and Tynemouth, by a French brig privateer, called 
the Favorite^ of Havre-de-graoe ; 100 tons burthen, 6 
guns, 4 swivels, 18 oars, 108 men, and a great number 
of small arms. She had taken and burnt the John^ 
Lewis, off Holy Island, not being able to get a ransom 
for her. She had also taken a Scots brig, and sent her 
to some port in Norway. The Friendship was ransomed 
for £200. The captain of the privateer says she belongs 
to the king of France, and that he has orders not to 
ransom any prizes under £200, and to sink or bum all 
who would not comply. The Favorite went north in 
ohase of three Scotch vessels on thdb: passage from Hol- 
land. She took two of them; one was ransomed for 
£400, the other for £300." Several other notices of her 
exploits follow, but in October, the editor says, ""We 
arc well assured by one just arrived from i^e Baltic, 
that the French privateer that has been infesting tb» 
north coast, was a few days since run down by a large 
English ship, and the whole arew perished." So we 
find that the exploit of the Iterrimac nuuLbg dowm 
4jbe Cmgreu (m the reoe&t United States war), was not 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 63 

a novelty introduced in the tactics of naval warfare. 

In November we have the following account — By a 
master of a ship arrived at Shields, we are informed that 
last Thursday, when his ship was off Flamhro' Head, in 
company with four light vessels, they encountered a 
stout French privateer. Our informant's beiog the stem- 
most ship, was first attacked, but the others immediately 
bore down to his assistance ; they all engaged very briskly 
for some time, when another light ship belonging to 
Sunderland, coming up and joining in the combat, they 
soon obliged the privateer to run off. Captain Teasdale, 
of the Sunderland ooUier,* was killed in the engagement, 
and the privateer had his mainmast shot away. Extracts 
of this kind might be multiplied to any extent during 
the succeeding wars. In May, 1779, a French frigate 
and three smaller vessels of war, appeared off Shields, 
where they fell in with a large fleet of ships, several of 
which they took; the others fled in all directions, and 
produced serious alarm along the coast. Three months 
afterwards the coast of Northumberland was greatly 
alarmed by an incessant firing at sea. It arose from a 
shajTp engagement between two French privateers, of 18 
and 24 guns respectively, and the Content^ an armed 
ship of 20 guns, assisted by a Qreenland-man. A month 
afterwards great alann was felt horn Paul Jones being on 
the coast with a hostile squadron. The whole population 
of Blyth turned out to watch the motions of his fleets 
but when he passed the port it was at a considerable 
ofljng. 

In the time of the American War of Independence, 
a press-jgang was stationed at Blyth^ who were a source 



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U mSTORY OP BLTTS. 

of great annoyanoe to the sea-faring population, but it 
does not appear that they succeeded to any great extent 
in their infamous employment* Their first chief lieu- 
tenant, Mennel, died in 1780 : a tombstone erected to 
his memory may stiU be seen in the chiu'chyard. 

There was no gang in the town during the twenty 
years' war of the French revolution, but great numbers 
of our seamen were impressed when at other ports; and 
few men there were, except those whom the offices of 
master or mate protected, who had not a turn on board 
a man-o'-war. It is true they usually deserted if they 
found an opportunity: but many men who were taken 
from their families Were compelled to serve in the navy for 
many long years. After the commencement of the war in 
1803, a battery was erected at the south end of the town, 
in a position to command the entrance to the port* It was 
armed with three 24-pounder guns; and a detachment 
of infantry from Tynemouth garrison did duty* The 
guns were only once fired at an enemy. Some time in 
1805, a merchant brig was seen running for the port 
under a press of sail, a suspicious looking craft in chase 
of her. An alarm was raised, the battery manned, and 
a gun fired at the privateer, who finding that she was 
within range of a battery, at once put about and gave up 
the chase. The brig finding herself under protection 
brought up ; while the privateer stood off, and was soon 
out of sight. 

At this period the first Napoleon had assembled a 
large army on the heights of Boulogne, with the avowed 
purpose of invading this country. Measures were taken 
at Blythy as elsewhere, in case of the landing of thd 



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mSTORT OF BLTTH. 65 

©nemy, to convey the women and children into the 
interior of the country* Alston Moor was said to be 
the place of refiige for those dwelling on this coast. The 
number of each family was taken. The farmers' carts 
were all numbered, and had their place and work allotted 
them in case of an actual invasion. The threatened 
invasion aroused the spirit of all England ; and volunteer 
corps were raised all over the country. An abortive 
attempt was made to form a corps in Blyth ; the fiiilure 
arose out of an excess of candidates for officering the 
corps; numbers professed themselves ready to venture 
life and limb in driving back the invading Frenchman, 
but unhappily their patriotism was overborne by their 
vanity ; they would not fight in any position below that 
of an officer, and through the miserable squabble en- 
gendered by this folly the volunteer movement in Blyth 
was strangled in the birth. 

A company of pike-men, however, was raised, and 
were exercised in front of the Custom-house. They 
were made up chiefly of trimmers, pilots. Custom-house 
officers, &c. But the battle of Trafalgar settled the 
question of an invasion ; that d.ecisive battle left England 
the mistress of the sea. One Sunday morning in the 
year 1811, the inhabitants were thrown into a state of 
great excitement, by the startling news that five French- 
men had been taken during the night, and were lodged 
in the guard-house. They were officers who had broken 
their parole at Edinburgh castle, and in making their 
way home had reached the neighbourhood of Blyth ; 
when discovered they were resting by the side of Plessy 
wagon-way, beside the "shoulder of mutton" field. A 

F 

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66 HISTORY OF BLYTE. 

party of oountrymen who had been out drinking hearing 
some persons conversing in a strange tongue, suspected 
what they were, and determined to effect their capture. 
The fugitives made some resistance, but in the end were 
captured and brought to Blyth, and given into charge 
of the soldiers then stationed in the town. This act of 
the countrymen met with the strongest reprobation of 
the public; the miscarriage of the poor fellows' plan of 
escape through the meddling of their captors, excited the 
sympathy of the inhabitants, rich and poor vicing with 
each other in showing kindness to the strangers. What- 
ever was likely to alleviate their hapless condition was 
urged upon their acceptance; victuals they did not 
refuse, but though money was freely offered them they 
steadily refused to accept it. The guard-house was. 
surroimded all day long by crowds anxious to get a 
glimpse of the captives. The men who took the prison- 
ers were rewarded with £5 each, but doubtless it would 
be the most unsatisfactOTy wages they ever earned, for 
long aftOT whenever they showed their faces in the town^ 
they had to endure the upbraiding of men, women, and 
children; indeed it was years before public feeling about 
this matter passed away. 

The following is the best account of the Blyth Shipfr 
that fell into the hands of the en^ny during the long 
French war, that I have been able to obtain: — 

The William and FranceSy an old Blyth vessel belong- 
ing to WilKam Harriscm, was captured off the Yorkshire 
coast when on a voyage to Hamburgh in 1797. Thos^ 
Patterson, pilot, was an apprentice on board of her at 
the time. Patterson was impressed soon afterwards, and 



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BISTORT OF BLTTE, 67 

was in the Penelope^ frigate, when the Ouillatime Tell^ 
French ship of the line, was captured off Malta after a 
desperate action* 

A strange circumstance occurred about this time. A 
person named MaffiUj master of the sloop Nancy, the 
property of Mr» Manners, ran away with the vessel, and 
carried her into a port of the enemy* 

The Robert, belonging to John Clark, Robert Thirl- 
beck master, was the first prize carried into Dieppe, at 
the beginning of the war in 1803^ It was eleven years 
before the survivors of the crew returned to Blyth. 

The Elizabeth, belonging to John Gray, Geo. Buhner 
master, was captured near Yarmouth roads, but was re- 
taken off Calais, and brought into Dover, in 1807. 

The Ceres, belonging to Mr. Bury, and commanded 
by a nephew of his, was taken about the same time. 

The Hull Packet, Thomas Robinson master, belonging 
to Mr. Manners, was also captured. 

The JSTesperws, . belonging to John Clark, Thomas 
Gibson master, was captured on Christmas day, 1807; 
she had just made the English coast, after a long pas- 
sage in the dark, from Archangel. The master died in 
a French prison ; he was son of Thomas Gibson, one of 
our first shipowners. Two sons of the master of the 
Hesperus, Thomas and Nicholas, were afterwards ship- 
masters. 

The Caroline, James Black master and owner, was 
taken off Dimgeness, in 1809, and carried into Dieppe4 
Edward Taylor, marine store dealer, then a very yoxmg 
man, was mate of the Caroline. He was sent to Longwy, 
where his father was imprisoned, who had been taken 

f2 

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68 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

in the Robert six years before ; and father and son oon* 
tinned in captivity together until 1814. 

The William^ belonging to John Clark, John Elder 
master, was taken on her passage from Lisbon. 

The Edmund and Mary^ Andrew Hodgson master, 
was taken off Blyth by a French privateer : she had just 
left port with several other vessels, one of which was the 
UkanoTf John Thrift master. Thrift had witnessed the 
capture, and standing away southward fortunately fell 
in with the Censor gun brig, off Shields. Thrift inform- 
ed the captain what had happened, and pointed out the 
direction in whidi the privateer and her prize had gone. 
The gun brig at once set all sail in diase, and presently 
came up with and re-took the Edmund and Mary, but the 
privateerescaped. This occurred on New Yearns day, 1810. 

The Hygea, belonging to Thomas Nazeby, Thomas 
Nazeby, jun., master, was driven out of the Downs in a 
gale of wind oil to the French coast, and was captured. 

The Westmoreland^ belonging to J\Iatthew Wilson, 
Mr. Wheatley master, was taken, on h^ passage to- 
Archangel, by an American frigate, and burnt, together 
with a valuable cargo. 

The NautiluSy belonging to the Messrs. Marshall, 
Philip Dodds master, was taken on her passage ta 
America, by an American privateer. It happened that 
Mr. Dodds and the captain of the privateer were both 
free masons. The American considered it his duiy as 
a mason to give up his claim to the captured ship to hiff 
brother mason; and accordingly gave up the ship ta 
Mr. Dodds, who then pursued bis voyage to a soocessfol 
tamination. 



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HISTORY OF BLTTH. 69 

From the notices we gave of privateering in the 
middle of the last century, it will be seen that the 
general practice then was for the master of the captured 
ehip to enter into an agreement to pay a sum of money 
as ransom, the ship and crew were then at liberty to 
pursue their voyage; but in the wars towards the end 
of the century, the practice of ransoming had ceased, and 
both ship and crew were carried into port; the former 
to be sold, and the latter detained in prison. But im- 
prisonment never lasted long, as there were frequent 
exchanges of prisoners between the belligerents; till the 
last French war, when, from the non-exchange of 
prisoners, it became a heavy calamity to those who fell 
into the hands of the enemy, for they had to remain 
prisoners till the end of the war; indeed, of the crews 
of the above ships very many never lived to see their 
homes again, but died in a foreign prison. And of the 
masters, besides Thomas Gibson, there were three others 
who died — ^Thirlbeck, Nazeby, and Elder, 

John Campbell, who was a pilot at the beginning of 
the century, was one of the crew of the Serapis^ when 
she had. the remarkable action with Paul Jones, oflP 
Scarborough, on the 23rd September, 1779, The Serapis 
was fought till there were not twenty imwounded men 
on board. John was wounded in the hand ; this is still 
considered the hardest contested action in the history of 
the British navy. In the summer of 1779 Paul Jones 
cruised along our eastern coasts, no longer with a single 
ship, but with a squadron, manned by French and 
Americans, and desperadoes from various other coun- 
tries, tempted into the service by exaggerated accounts 



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70 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

of the enormous amount of prize money he had made. 
In this present cruise he had alarmed all the defenceless 
parts of the eastern coast, from Flambro' Head, to the 
Frith of Tay : but his great object was to intercept the 
Baltic trade, which was under convoy of the ship SerapiSy 
40 guns; captain Richard Pearson; and the Countess of 
Scarboroughy armed ship of 20 guns, captain Percy. 
This fleet had arrived safely off the Yorkshire coast, 
when the bailiff of the corporation of the town of Scarbro*, 
sent off to inform captain Pearson that a flying squadron 
of the enemy's ships had been seen the day before stand- 
ing to the southward. About seven o'clock in the evening 
of the 23rd of September, Paul Jones, in the Bonhomme 
Richardy a two-decker, carrying 40 guns, engaged 
captain Pearson, in the Serapis, within musket shot ; 
after firing two or three broadsides, he backed his topsails, 
dropped within pistol shot on the Serapis^ quarter, and 
attempted to board. Captain Pearson repulsed the 
corsair in his attempt, and Jones sheered off; but after 
one or two other manoeuvres, and more than one accident, 
the two ships dropped alongside of each other, head and 
stem, and so close that the muzzels of the gims touched and 
grated against each other; in this close contact the action 
continued with the greatest filry, from half-past eight 
till half-past ten, during wliich time Jones, who had far 
more men, vainly attempted to board; the Serapis was 
set on fire ten or twelve times, and each time the fire was 
extinguished; and captain Pearson had on the whole the 
best of the battle, when one of the frigates, after assisting 
in disabling the Countess of Scarborough, came up to the 
assistance of the Bonhomme Richard, and kept constantly 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH, 71 

sriling round the Serapis^ till almost every man on the 
main and quarter decks was either killed or wounded. The 
combat, as Cooper tells it, would soon have terminated in 
favour of the British, had it not been for the marksmen 
in the tops of the revolutionary fleet, who drove every 
man on the forecastle and quarter deck of the Serapis be- 
low, by musketry fire, if not otherwise struck down. 
Some American seamen then lay out on the lower yards 
of the Bonhmnme Richard^ and sent grenades and 
oombustibles down the hatchways of the Serapis, The 
inflammable ingredients set fire to the cartridges, these 
caught from gun to gun, and killed and wounded about 
60 of her crew. Captain Pearson hauled down the 
colours of the Serapis with his own hands, the men re- 
fusing to expose themselves to the fire of the Richard^ a 
tops, for they could not keep the upper deck. Had the 
action continued a short time longer, the American ship 
must have given up the contest, for a few hours after the 
engagement she sunk. John Campbell, after he came 
home, was made a pilot, which situation he held till his 
death. 

Henry Wallace served in the navy from 1793 to the 
peace of 1814, except for a few months during the short 
peace of 1802. He commenced his gallant career in the 
Beaulieu frigate, and finished his active service in the 
Caledonia^ the flag-ship of Sir Edward Pellew, in 1814; 
and amongst the gallant seamen who so nobly fought 
the battles, and upheld the honour of England, during 
those eventful years, none better deserved to be called 
**the bravest of the brave," than Henry. He was with 
Duncan in the general action with the Dutch at Cam- 



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72 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

perdown, and highly distinguished himself at the siege 
and taking of Martinique. He is mentioned by name 
in the Naval Chronicle, and other publications treating 
of naval history, in their narration of the cutting of the 
French corvette, Chevrettey out of Brest roads in 1800. 
The Chevrette had come out of Brest, and anchored in 
Camaret bay, in the presence of the British fleet, then 
blockading the port. The English considered her pre- 
sence there a sort of challenge' to come and take her if 
they dared, and they resolved to make the attempt. A 
number of boats were manned and sent to bring her out, 
but through some mishap daylight came before they 
reached her, and thus showed their purpose to the 
French, who thereupon took additional precautions for 
her security — she was taken closer to the batteries, a • 
party of soldiers sent on board, and a netting run up 
her rigging to prevent her being boarded. The English 
imdeterred by all these precautions, resolved at what- 
ever cost to attempt her capture, which in a few nights 
after they did. Unfortunately the division of boats, in 
which was the commanding officer, missed its way ; the 
other division succeeded in reaching the bay. While 
waiting for the coming of the missing division, the 
wind changed, and blew directly out of the bay. This 
determined the officer in command of the boats then 
present as to his plan of operations, which was to get 
the ship imder weigh by setting her sails and catting 
her cable. To effect this he appointed a number of men 
to take the shrouds of each mast, to mount to the several 
yards, then unfurl the sails and set them. Another 
party to cut the cable. Henry Wallace, with two others, 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 73 

were to fight their way to the helm, which Heniy was 
to take, and steer the ship out to sea, while the main 
body were to overpower the crew. The French dis- 
covered the boats before they were alongside, and of 
course gave them a warm reception ; but nothing could 
prevent the English seamen from boarding, each party 
succeeding in reaching their place and doing the work 
assigned them. The French were making a stout re- 
sistance to the party appointed to clear the decks, but 
when the contest was at its height the French were 
astonished to find that the sails were set, the cables cut, 
and the vessel proceeding out of the bay. This at once 
threw them into confusion ; they ceased to defend the 
deck, and ran below. They continued to fire up the 
hatches for some time, but were presently subdued. The 
French in the batteries, seeing the ship proceeding out 
to sea, began to fire upon her, but they continued to 
increase their distance, and though frequently hit they 
finally succeeded in bringing her out. Henry had gallantly 
fought his way to the wheel ; although severely wounded 
in the contest, and bleeding, he steadily remained at his 
station, steering the Chevrette out until she was in safety 
from the fire of the batteries ; and on his officer saying 
he was afraid his wounds were severe the brave fellow 
replied that it was only a graze and a prick from a cut- 
lass, and would not prevent him from such another 
expedition again, and wished it were the following night ! 
He knew there was an arduous and important service 
about to be performed by the boats of the fleet, 
and being among the volunteers from the Beaulieu^ 
concealed the state of his wounds that he might not be 



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74 HISTORY OF BLYTH, 

laid aside. This brave man had served seven years in 
the ship, and constantly distinguished himself on every 
service of danger that occnrred ; and if any extraordinary 
exertion was required Wallace was sure to be the fore- 
most — ^if a man had fallen overboard, he was always 
fortunately in the way, and either in boats or water. 
During the time he belonged to the ship nearly a dozen 
men were indebted to him for their lives, which he had 
saved by plunging overboard, sometimes even in a gale 
of wind, at the utmost hazard of his own. He finished 
his naval career, as already stated, in the Caledonian. 
His great gallantry and ability as a seaman made him a 
general favourite with his commanders, especially Sir 
Edward Pellew, who showed him great kindness, and 
would gladly have promoted him to the quarter deck ; 
but Henry's love of strong drink prevented him ever 
rising higher than a quarter master. In 1814 he re- 
turned to Blyth where he resided till his death. He 
had, as was his wont at pension time, been taking his 
grog too freely when he fell over the quay, and though 
he was got out in a few minutes it was foxmd impossible 
to recover him, and he died shortly after being carried 
home, aged 79 years. 

William Murton was in the Victory^ with Nelson, on 
the famous day of Trafalgar, and was one of the seamen 
of that ship who were selected to attend the funeral of 
the Admiral, and whose presence in the procession to, 
Westminster Abbey formed one of the most remarkable 
sights on that day, when England gave her favourite 
Admiral a public funeral. Murton was a fine seaman, 
and would have been promoted had he remained in the 



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HI8T0R Y OF BL YTH. 76 

navy ; but he was a married man, and preferred coming 
home and taking his chance of promotion in the com- 
mercial navy, in which he was soon made master. He 
died many years ago. 

Robert Nicholson was carpenter of the Belter ophon at 
the battle of Trafalgar. The Bellerophon took a splen- 
did share in that celebrated fight, and was fifth ship in 
Collingwood's line. Besides being dismasted during 
the action, she had 150 killed and wounded; and her 
captain. Cook, was one of the two English captains who 
were slain on that eventful day. Robert used to boast 
that the Bellerophon fought two battles at Trafalgar. 
When the general action closed, the whole of the crew, 
except those disabled, were working hard to get the ship 
back into trim. Nicholson and his mates were over the 
ship's sides plugging the shot holes. At that critical 
moment the French rear-admiral Dimianoir, with five 
ships that had not taken any share in the action, bore 
down upon the disabled British ships. The men were 
again called to quarters, to which they responded with 
as much alacrity as if they had not been engaged that 
day. The spirit of the men was up; they had just won 
the most glorious and decisive victory that even British 
seamen had ever won, and it was not to be snatched 
away by this fresh onslaught. The defiant British 
cheer arose from the battered ships, and they joined in 
battle again, reduced as were their numbers and crippled 
their ships, and defended themselves with such gallantry 
that the enemy could make no impression on them; so 
that, leaving one of their ships a prize to the English, 
they were glad to haul oflf and make their escape. It 



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76 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

was these ships that were a few days afterwards met 
and captured by Sir Eiohard Straohan, 

Eobert remained many years in the navy ; when far 
advanced in Hfe he returned to Blytk The men who 
fought at Trafalgar always looked upon the 2l8t of 
October as the proudest day of their lives, and many of 
them commemorated its return with as bountiful an 
allowanoe of grog as they could command. About the 
fortieth anniversary of the battle Eobert had passed the 
day without recollecting Trafalgar. After getting to 
bed at night, the great battle recurred to his memory, 
and he began to suspect that he had let the glorious 
day pass over without having celebrated it according to 
lis wont; he appealed to his wife, who had not yet re- 
tired to rest, if it was not the anniversary of the great 
day; after some consultation they came to the conclusion 
that it was the veritable day I Eobert at once rose 
from his bed, and Mary went to purchase a pot of rum, 
over which he "fought his battles o'er again," before he 
returned to rest. 

John Simpson, still living, was one of the crew 
of the Standard^ 74, when that ship was sent to 
join Nelson on the eve of the battle of Trafalgar, and 
arrived off Cadiz to find that the battle was over. In the 
beginning of 1807 the Standard was one of Sir John 
Duckworth's squadron when he forced the passage of 
the Dardanelles. The naval historian Brenton, in des- 
cribing that desperate attempt, says — " In what instance 
in the whole course of our naval warfare, have ships 
received equal damage in so short a time, as in this ex- 
traordinary enterprize! The Royai George had her 



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SISTORT OF BLTTS. 7T 

cutwater carried away by a granite shot, wiiioh nearly 
sunk her ; another shot out the mainmast of the Windsor 
Castle ahnost in two ; a shot of the same description 
knocked two ports into one on board the Thunderer; \h& 
RepulsBy by another, had her wheel shot away, and 24 
men killed and wounded, nor was the ship saved from 
going on shore except by the most wonderful exertions; 
a granite shot came tlurongh the larboard bow of tha 
ActivCy on her Iowot deck, rolled aft, and brought up 
abreast of the main hatdiway, another took away the 
whole barricade of the forecastle between the two ports^ 
The Standard was also struck by a single shot, which 
went through the upper dedk killing and wounding 59 
men." Robert Foreman was also engaged in this 
aflfair ; he was carpenter of the Endymiony which ship 
was hit on the side by one of the big shoty and twelve 
of her crew struck down. The heaviest shot which hit 
our ships was of granite, and weighed SOOlbs,, and wa» 
two feet two inches in diameter. 

The above are not to be considered as aU the Blyth 
men who took part in the long war. Many others haci 
•een much servicOy but I am not suflSciently acquainted 
with the facts to enable me to give details. Thomas- 
Marshall was present in admiral Keppell's action with 
the Frendi fleet under count d^Orviliers^ James Philip* 
was in the Culloden with the gallant Troubridge, whea 
she grounded in running down to attack the French at 
the battie of the Nile. His elder brother Joseph enlisted, 
into a dragoon regiment, and rose by merit to be & 
captain= in the 12th; he died only a few years ago 
highly esteemed as a man and a soldier. James was one 



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78 HI8T0R T OF BL YTH. 

of the crew of the York^ 64 guns, captain Mitford, when 
that unfortunate ship foundered in the North Sea with 
the whole of her crew. 

In the great disaster which befell the Baltic squadron 
on its return to England, Christmas, 1811, two Blyth 
seamen lost their lives. The 8t George^ 98 guns, rear- 
admiral Eeynolds, and the Defence^ 74 guns, captain 
Adkins, were driven by a dreadful hurricane on to the 
Jutland coast, when out of the two crews mustering 
1300 men, only 18 were saved. The Sero^ 74, captain 
Newman, went on shore near the Holder point, and the 
whole crew perished. Edward Smart was in the last- 
named vessel, and William Marshall in the Defence, 
Robert Mitchell, great grandfather to the Mitchell 
family residing in Waterloo Road, was with captain 
Cook on his second voyage of discovery. 




OO 



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CHAPTER V. 

Stip-building. Lynn. Manser's Duel. William Carr. Postal arfange'^ 
nents. Rejoicings at Peace, Bwning Effigies. John Robinson. Great 
Seamen's strike. 

^E have already stated that there were three firms 
engaged in shipbuildings There were beside 
Mr. Hannay, Mr. Edward Watts, who built ships where 
the dock is now ; and Mark Watson, whose building- 
yard was where the lime-kiln now stajids, near Cowpen 
Square. At the beginning of the century the two 
former were dead, and Watson had removed to Lynn, 
but their places were soon filled up ; Manners and Bates 
had a building-yard on the low quay. Mr. Debord and 
a Mr. Morrison built some ships at the upper end of the 
quay at the link-end^ Mr. Debord aft^wards built 
ships at the High Pans. Messrs.^ Wright had the 
building-yard formerly occupied by Edward Watts, and 
for some time Munroe and Davison built ships at the 
north side, where the ballast quay now stands. The 
Davison family began ship-building at the low yard 
about 1802. They built many very usefiil vessels, but 
in a much less finished style than our modem 
builders. In 1810 Mr. Charles Clark and Mr. Henry 
Taylor began business as ship-builders at Cowpen 
Quay, where Bowman and Drummond afterwards 
constructed their slipway. In 1811 the dry dock wa» 
constructed by Messrs Linskill and Co. : the resident 
and managing partner was Patrick Holland ; he lived 



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80 3I8T0RT OF BLTTS. 

at Crofton, and was for several years one of the fore- 
most men in the town. In the three last establishments 
business wa& carried on to a muoh larger extent than 
any of the former firms had done. At this time ship- 
wrights^ wages became very high, and the practice was 
for builders to take for apprentices fuU-grown men, 
to whom they gave from fifteen to twenty shUlings 
per week for three or four years ; and of these there 
were a large number. At this period carpenters formed 
a large portion of the population of the town. A great 
proportion of the ships built by these firms, to the end 
of the war in 1815, were for Blyth owners. It was this 
class of vessels chiefly that were employed in the trans- 
port service during the last six or seven years of the 
war. The William and AnUy built by the Davisons for 
Messrs. Jobson, was considered by far the fastest sailing 
vessel in any of the northern ports ; indeed the seamen 
who were in her when she was in the transport service 
used to tell of her having on several occasions beat some 
of the swiftest frigates in the navy. 

From an early period Blyth had an extensive inter- 
course with the port of Lynn. In 1733, of 296 ships 
clearing coastwise, 127 went to Lynn. In 1794, 33 
Lynn vessels were trading to Blyth, and many of the 
Lynn masters were well known in the town, and mixed 
a good deal with public-house society. At the begin- 
ning of the century Mr. Charles Manser was well 
known, and was one of the chief men in all convivial 
parties ; his father was master and owner of the Norfolk 
of Lynn, and had traded to Blyth for a long period. 
He had given Charles a classioal education, but being a 



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HISTORY OF BLYTS. 81 

wild youth he had put him to sea; and among the many 
proofs that education is not an unfailing means of 
producing good conduct Charles was a striking example. 
He was a great practical joker: one of his practical 
jokes, which took the form of a sham duel, produced a 
great deal of mirth at the time, and set James Weddell, 
the Plessy poet, a^-Ayming* The Black Bull was the 
great house of resort for Lynn captains; and Doctor 
English was a boon companion of the frequenters of 
that house. It happened that four shipowners came on 
an excursion to Blyth> and met with the doctor at the 
Black Bull. The doctor introduced a favourite project 
of his, of forming what he termed a Moravian Society. 
The landlord, James Matthewson, was induced to submit 
to be made the first member. The doccor, seeing the 
operation caused considerable pain, declined to be made 
a member himself. This Jbrought upon him from the 
company the charge of duplicity. After much noisy 
talk the doctor bet the company a rump and dozen that 
no one present could deceive him by any means they 
could devise. This led Manser to get up a mock duel, 
and invite English to act surgeon on the occasion. The 
following is Weddell's rhyming narrative of the aflEBur. 
The duel took place in the field in which Freehold-street 
is now built. It happened in 1809. 

THE DUEL. 

Twd heroes lately fought a duel, 

Tho* not intentioDally cruel, 

Their tempers placable and equal, 

As proved by the sequel. 

Manser and Harrison were thej. 

Engaged in this funny fray, 

Their seconds, Houtton and Greenway, 



,} 

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S2 MIS TOE Y OF BL YTW. 



A worthy Doctor too was sent for, 

Who to deceive was all they meantf Sir,". 

More clearly to explain the mb, 

The party wished to form a Clab ; 

Nor Gram admit, nor yet Bitavian, 

The name of each should be Moravian^ 

Should to each other faithful prove, 

And live in unity and love. 

The Doctor, who himself did QK>ve it, 

Did shortly after disapprove it, 

And swore by Jove he would be free. 

Nor ever would a member be. 

In order that they might believe him 

A bet he made none could deceive him, 

Which was the reason, I aver, 

That brought these valiant men to war. 

But e*er tfa« contest it began 

They formed the foUowmg artful plan : 

To name the case just as it stood, 

They got a pudding filled with blood. 

Chose the same both- wide and thin, 

Annexed it close to Manser's skin ; 

The time arrived which was set, 

So at the spot the parties met. 

They charged with powder, that was all. 

For prudence said, Beware of ball I 

But one of them was doomed to falL 

So, being ready, they retired 

Six paces back, turned round and fired ! 

Poor Manser fell all on a sadden. 

And in the fall he burst the pudding. 

The blood ran down his side and thighs, 

Which put the surgeon in surprise, 

And thus exdaim^ as he ran — 

** O Harrison, you've killed the man ! " 

Tore off his dothes, cry'd " By my soul, 

r cannot find the bullet's hole." 

Used every scheme that man could do^ 

And cry'd aloud, " More tow, more tow \ "' 

Manser the joke now could not hide, 

The Doctor tickled so his side. 

But, bursting into laughter, said, 

^ I have no wounds, be not afraid ; 

And though no Frenchman or Bataviant 

Fve made you now a true Moravian." 

The Doctor now perceived the joke. 

Was much chagrmed, nay scarcely spoke ^ 

He drooped his head and slunk away^ 

Nor faced the party more that day. 

So to the Bull they did repair, 

And got a sound refreshment there, 

itond told it unto priest and procto» 



X 



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BISTORT OP BLTTS. 83 

&t>w de^cterously they had done the Doctor 

Reader, you may the inference draw, 
From lenity or reason's law, 
Ko man on earth should boast or scoff-* 
The wisest may be taken oft. 



Chief among Blyth^s departed worthies whose history 
is entitled to honourable distinction^ is WUliam Carr t 
lie was the most lemarkable man tiie town could ever 
boast of, and for fifty jBEtrs was the great sight we had 
to show to stiungers^ numbers of people coming &om 
great distances to get a sight of him> He was bom at 
Hartley Old Engine, April 3rd, 1766, but shortly after 
his birth his parents removed to Blythv His &th«r was 
a master blacksmith, and brought his son up to the 
Bame trade. When in his fall vigour and prime he was 
unquestionably the strongest man in the tJnited King- 
dom, if not in the world ; when only seventeen years 
of age, he was 6ft» 3fin. in height^ wieighed ISstv, and 
could easUy lift seven or eight hundredweight. While 
a ywith he could throw a 661b. weight with a ^b. one 
attached to it, either before or behind him a distance of 
eight yards. In these peculiar feats he was once chal- 
lenged to a trial of muscular power with the celebrated 
*'Miok Downey,*' but on finding that the "Blyth 
Samson" had appeared on the scene, and was eager for 
the fray, Mick prudentiy shrunk from the encounter. 
On reaching thirty years of age Carr weighed 24st., and 
was 6ffc. 4in. in height. There have been far heavier 
men than Carr, and one of the Huggups of Northseaton^ 
was at least three inches taller. It was bone and 
aiHSole^ covered with a moderate quantity of flesh, thai 

<j2 

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84 SIS Ton Y OF BL YTH. 

constituted his bulk ; every paxt of his giant frame was 
folly developed, and with the most perfect symmetry, 
and he was good-looking even to old age. On seeing 
him you were struck not so much with his great height, 
as with the depth and ftdness of his chest, and the great 
breadth of his shoulders, and when yoimg he was as 
agile as he was strong. On one occasion he leapt over 
a five-barred gate with a yoimg woman 8st. weight 
under his arm ! About this period of life his power of 
withstanding long-continued labour without fatigue is 
proved by the fact of his having wrought one hundred 
and thirty-two consecutive hours, without rest; and 
after twelve hours of rest, working for one hundred and 
twenty hours longer. This he did on different occasions 
in repairing engines at Hartley, Plessy, and Bedlington. 
Five seamen were engaged in conveying an anchor 
weighing half a ton, and a piece of chain cable to the 
shop of Carr's father, but fafled in the attempt ; young 
Carr was sent to their help, and to show them what 
puny fellows they were, took up the anchor and oareied 
it to the shop himself. 

Carr was quiet and gentle in his manners, and stood 
high in the estimation of his townsmen. He had a most 
extensive acquaintance, people of all ranks noticed him, 
and treated him with respect; he was often introduced 
into respectable socieiy, and always conducted himself 
on those occasions in such a manner as to gain the good 
opinion of all whom he met. Few men made more 
friends or kept them better than Carr. When Carr was 
in his prime the late Lord Delaval was, by the profiision 
of his housekeeping, maintaining the ancient &m6 of 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 85 

that family for hospitality; and to gratify the nmnerous 
visitors whom the good cheer of his lordship attracted to 
his beautiful Hall, Carr was often sent for that they 
might see the world-renowned blacksmith, and witness 
an exhibition of some of his feats of strength. Not all 
the guests at Seaton Delaval were members of the 
*'upper ten thousand," leading members of the equally 
degrading turf and ring were frequent visitors. Once 
when the famous Big Ben was there Carr was sent for 
to have a fight with him, for the amusement of a select 
circle oi fashionables ! His lordship introduced the com- 
batants with a request that they would shake hands. 
Willey bashfully received the pugilistic hand within his 
own, and after giving it a vice-like grip, which caused 
blood to ooze from Ben's finger ends, the celebrated 
pugilist announced to his lordship that he should decline 
the combat, and would rather receive a kick from a horse 
than a blow from such a hand. On another occasion the 
celebrated boxer Mendoza, accompanied by lords Strath- 
more and Tyroonnel, came over from the Hall to visit 
the big blacksmith. Lord Delaval had his portrait 
taken in his working habit, which picture his lordship 
highly prized. It was afterwards removed to Gribside. 

After the death of his father Carr carried on the busi- 
ness on his own account. His shop stood on the south 
side of the salt pans, and he acquired fame as a maker of 
harpoons used in the Grreenland trade, forming them of 
iron made from old horse shoe nails, obtained from the 
country horse-shoers. He employed boys in compactly 
filling them into iron rings; these after being sufiiciently 
heated to weld, were put under the hammer and conso- 



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86 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

lidated: and iron thns made was said to be i^markably 
tough, and would stretch rather than break under the 
immense strain to which harpoons were frequently sub- 
jected iu capturing whales. One of the most remarkable 
anecdotes related of Carr arose out of this part of his 
business; he had been late in completing an order for 
harpoons for the JSuretta^ captain Boswell. It was not 
till the morning of the day on which the ship had to sail 
that the harpoons were finished and packed in a box, 
Carr himself took them down to Willey Middleton, the 
carrier, to be taken to Shields: but he found the carrier 
had gone rather earlier than usual. No other convey- 
ance being available Carr determined that Boswell 
should have the harpoons in time^ and made up his mind 
to carry them himself; so he took the box of harpoons^ 
weighing a cwt. on his shoulder, and carried them to 
Shields ; but another feat which he acoompUshed on the 
journey was more remarkable still— Ae drank eighty-0ur 
glasses of^iritSy and returned home sober! "While CajT*9 
wife was on her death-bed, two sailors on board a ship 
which lay opposite his house> quarrelled, and came on to 
the quay to fight. The noise annoying the sick woman> 
he went out and besought the belligerents to cease their 
noise, or go elsewhere. This they doggedly refused to 
do. Finding persuasion would not do, he resorted to a 
somewhat less gentle method—taking the pugilists by 
the neck, gne in each hand, he knocked their heads to^ 
gether till they were fain to promise better behaviour, 
and then greatly crest-fallen they slimk on board their 
ship, amid the laughter of the crowd collected together 
by the rowt 



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BISTORT OF BLYTH. «J 

He was, liowever, fSar &om using his great power to 
annoy his associates : he was no bully, nor did he ever 
fieek occasion to provoke a quarrel, but was on the con- 
trary remarkable for his extreme good nature. Once 
when at Morpeth races, a Scotch lord struck him with 
his whip; but this was too much for even Carr's good 
nature. He laid hold of his assailant, and brought him 
oflf his horse with a grip that instantly cowed his lord- 
ship, and made him feel that the man he had wantonly 
provoked could annihilate him if he chose; but Carr car- 
ried the matter no further than to convince his lordship 
that he was not to be iusulted with impunity. He was 
long afterwards known by the soubriquet of Lord Haddo 
— ^that being the nobleman's name. In 1818 he had a 
paralytic stroke, and for a considerable time before his 
death was confined to bed. He died September 6th, 
1825. The name, like that of many other old Blyth 
families has become extinct, though there are several of 
the children of both of his daughters still living in the 
town — ^the Fenwicks and the Simpsons. There is a 
fast-decaying gravestone in Blyth churchyard, on which 
is the following inscription : " Here lies iaterred Frances 
the wife of William Carr, wagonsmith. May the 16th, 
1769." This was the mother of Carr. There is another 
inscription on the stone almost illegible, about the death 
of some of Carr's sister's (Mrs. Collier's) children ; but 
there is no memorial of any other member of Carr's 
family. 

The postal arrangements of Blyth were very imperfect 
till the beginning of the present century. TiU about the 
year 1780 no post came to Blyth^ Before that period* 



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88 EI8T0R Y OF BL YTH. 

the Plessey coal office, for many years, occasionally sent 
a person to Newcastle with letters. But it appears 
jnarvellous how large an amount of business that office 
conducted with so small an amoimt of correspondence. 
The first regular post came, as now, by Morpeth : the 
letters went and came once a week, by James Alexander 
the carrier. About sixty years ago it was arranged for 
letters to come by Shields, three days a week, by a riding 
postman. When he arrived he sounded his horn as he 
came up the street : he then ascended the moimt at the 
Star and Garter door, and read over the names of the 
parties to whom the letters were addressed. There were 
commonly a considerable number of people collected : a 
few were expecting letters, and a number of gossips who, 
having little business of their own to attend to, kindly 
spent their leisure in attending to the business of their 
neighbours. These were the special dread of yoimg 
females who were expecting letters from their lovers ; 
but it was understood that those ladies generally mana- 
ged to outwit the gossips, by bribing the postman to 
omit announcing their letters. 

But after a storm at sea, vast numbers would attend 
and listen with breathless attention to learn if there was 
a letter for the owner or master's wife of such ships as 
were known to have befen exposed to the storm. About 
the close of the war a daily post was established. Mr. 
Sheraton was the first postmaster; a small place was 
boxed oflF, what was then the Star tap-room, and George 
Hills, hostler at the Star, was appointed to deliver the 
letters, whom the young people were wont to annoy, by 
.by asking him " What news from the Hague ?'* an in- 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 89 

quiry which always spoilt the old man's temper, and 
was, of course, for that reason, the more frequently put. 
At that time the postage of a London letter was 18Jd. 
Letters from Newcastle were 5 Jd. and from other places 
in proportion. The business of the Post Office has in- 
creased to a remarkable degree since George the postman 
used to stand on the mount with a handful of letters 
and announce their addressee to a crowd of listeners. 
The following is the amount of business done in the 
Blyth Post Office during the year 1861 : — ^the entire 
number of letters passing through the office was 190,760 ; 
of these there were 99,500 inwards, and 91,250 outwards. 
There were 14,400 newspapers; of these 10,950 were 
inwards, and 3,650 outwards. There were 4,050 post 
office orders, for the sum of £8,992 ; of these there 
were 2,831 issued, representing £6,556; and 1,219 paid, 
amounting to £2,436. At our last issue there were three 
deliverers employed, and Cowpen and Bebside had and still 
have each an office of their own. There may be about two 
thousand families within the limits of the Blyth delivery. 
The following statement of the business done in the year 
1868 will show how rapidly the business of the Post 
Office continues to increase. In 1868, the number of 
letters passing through the office was 396,523, viz. : — 
195,208 inwards, and 201,315 outwards. There were 
7,544 post office orders, for the sum of £14,832, viz. : — 
4,976 issued, for £10,253, and 2,568 paid, amounting to 
£4,579. 418 SavingsBank deposits, representing £1,985. 
There are now four deliverers, and two daily deliveries — 
one at 8 a.m., and another at 7 p.m. 
Great rejoicings took place at the return of peace in 



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90 BI8T0R Y OF BL YTE. 

1814. All ranks iinited in forming a grand procession, 
which commenced at the Wagon-hill headed by Thomas 
Potts (a person of remarkably low stature), mounted on 
a large white horse, and attended by a detatohment of 
the Northumberland Militia then on duty at Blyth, 
marched down to the battery to the sound of the best 
music the town could afford. At night there was a 
general illumination. Few places had more cause to 
rejoice that peace was restored to Europe than Blyth. 
No doubt individuals had profited by the war, but many 
fiimilies had suiBfered greatly; some by having their 
husbands and sons dragged away by the press-gang, 
and made to serve on board ships of war, and the rela- 
tives of others had pined for long weary yecffs in a French 
prison, half of whom did not live to return. 

The rejoicings continued for several successive nights, 
on one of which the effigies of James Nicholson and John 
Robinson were paraded through the town, and then 
burnt opposite the Star and Charter. These persons were 
called Jacobins, which was understood to mean a leaning 
towards the principles of the French revolution; or being 
reformers in politics, and somewhat sceptical in religion: 
everything French being at that time viewed with in- 
tense aversion. But the fact was that these men were 
the two best informed men of their class in the town, 
and their political opinions would have now been esteem- 
ed as that of moderate reformers. But in a very few 
years they were amply avenged for the indignities now 
lieaped upon them on account of their opinions. In the 
years that followed, it was found that Plenty had not 
ixxme with Peace. The general and long continued 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 91 

stagnation of trade which followed the peace bore hard 
upon the working classes, and prepared them to listen 
with readiness to the highly seasoned political teachings 
of the Black Dwarf and Cobbett's Begister ; so that the 
Eadical Eeform movement gathered around it the whole 
of the younger portions of the community, and those 
who had been the most active in burning their neigh- 
bours in effigy for their alleged Jacobinism in 1814» 
were themselves the most ardent Radicals in 1818. 

John Robinson deserves more than the passing notice 
we have given. Many of the readers of this history will 
remember something of the man ; yet, many who knew 
little more than they saw of him may think that he was 
a poor good-for-nothing. Not so : the dirty, ragged, 
unshaven being, who used to pass through the streets 
with his hands in his pockets and his head upon his 
breast, was, despite his appearance, worthy of consider- 
able respect. He was degraded enough in position, but 
could not be said to be a degraded character. He had 
many merits, yet was in many things a strange unac- 
countable being. For many yecffs he had neither house 
nor home : never slept in a bed, but in hay-lofts or baxns, 
or about the salt pans. On this subject, however, John 
never liked to be questioned: if teased about his lodgings 
he was reserved or angry— often, too, he knew what it 
was to be pinched with hunger. On one occasion he 
fasted for, I think, a fortnight — or at least had nothing 
but a few beans and water. This was at the beginning 
of his houseless and strange way of living, and before 
his pride could stoop to let his need be known. To the 
end, indeed, he never fairly begged ; but when hungry 



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92 HISTOR Y OF BL YTH. 

would drop in upon any of his Mends at meal time ; or 
by his dejefcted countenance as good as say — " I could 
take something to eat if you would offer it :" and this 
only after he had gone two or three days without food. 
After one of these fasts had been succeeded by a good 
meal was the time to draw him out in conversation- 
Then he would talk as if he would never stop again. 
If on Geography — ^a favourite subject — ^he would take 
his piece of chalk, draw out the various countries, seas, 
and rivers, and give descriptions of the countries, and 
the histories of them, in his rapid and somewhat stutter- 
ing way; sometimes he would quote long passages of 
poetry from MUton or Shakspere, but most largely fipom 
Pope. As regards the history of the town and neigh- 
bourhood, he was a very encyclopsedia. He knew all 
the old inhabitants; their business and family connexions, 
and all the events, great and small, that had taken place 
in his own time, and long anterior to that. The wonder 
wa.s, how a man who had led so aimless a life could have 
gained so much knowledge ; for there wei© few subjects 
on which he could not talk, and on many he was exceed- 
ingly well informed — ^but the fact was, John was capable 
of great, though not of very steady and prolonged 
application. 

When in the humour to work at his trade, as ship- 
wright, he worked very hard ; and when in the humour 
to read, he read intensely. He could sit at a book a 
whole summer's day, unconscious of anything that was 
going on around him. He had great powers of obser- 
vation ; a very retentive memory ; and would take great 
trouble to get to know anything he wanted to know: 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 93 

He Tised to tell with great glee how his wit once got him 
a good dinner. He was paying a visit to a farmer at 
some little distance— one of the old school, and a little 
superstitious. On the morning of his visit, a rather 
unusual thing had taken place— ^a hen had crowed : a 
bad omen, the result of which was, a cart had upset, and 
some other accidents had happened: and when John 
entered the kitchen, chucky was paying the penalty of 
her crowing — was roasting before the fire. John at once 
slyly suggested that it might be unlucky to eat the fowL 
Ibiough, no one would toudi it, and so it fell to the lot 
of Robinson, who no doubt thought that whatever else 
was unlucky, he was not. On another occasion the re- 
sult of John's wit was not so happy. He had been 
telling over a mistake, or slip of the tongue, which a 
gentleman had made, thus :^this gentleman met, in a 
street of Newcastle, a farmer whom he knew ; but know- 
ing his brother as well, and not being able at the moment 
to get hold of the name, he felt perplexed in addressing 
hiTTi ; so, after shaking hands, he said, ^^ is this you, or 
your brother?" The farmer dryly replied "It's me, 
sir;" whereupon they both laughed heartily over the 
little slip. But John, in telling it over, seemed as if he 
could hardly pardon even such a little mistake from a 
man of rank and education; whereupon the company 
asked what he would have said in a like perplexity. 
Said John, raising himself up in dignity, " I would have 
said," — ^then he stopped — " I would have said, which of 
the two are you P is it you or your brother ? Thomas or 
Francis?" Of course, over this confusion worse con- 
founded both John and his companions laughed heartily 



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94 msTORT OF BLTTS. 

again. Poor Robinson ended his days in the workhollsa, 
a place lie much dreaded. But for the lack of stability 
and application he might have made a better end. He 
Was brought Up by parents who, though poor, Were very 
respectable^ He had respectable connexions who to the 
fend kindly oared for him in many Ways, reserving for 
him cast-off clothing, or supplying him with clean linen, 
and with many a meal. He at least merits the imperfect 
sketch We have given. A history of Blyth wiliout a 
notice of John Bobinson would be incomplete. The 
Writer many times urged him to put into Writing hia 
vast fimd of information respecting Blyth and its people* 
He Hked the idea, but could not bring himself to submit 
to the labour the thing required. 

In the autumn of 1815 the Qreat Seamen's Strike 
took place. The sudden reduction of the navy at the 
idIosc of the war threw an immense number of seamen 
unprovided for upon the country, and in much greater 
)iumbers than could possibly in so short a time find 
employment in the merchant service. Qreat numbers 
of unemployed seamen accumulated at the outports, and 
particularly at Shields and Sunderland. On Saturday, 
the 16th of September, a general meeting was held on 
Cullercoats sands, when about 3,000 seamen were present, 
who agreed to demand of the shipowners that every ship 
fihould have a complement of five men and a boy for 
eveiy hundred tons register admeasurement. On Wed-* 
nesday, the 20th, another and a larger meeting was held 
at the same place, of the seamen from Shields, Sunder* 
land, and Blyth, when, after consulting on the measures 
to be adopted, tiiey separated without oammittiiig the 



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msroitr of blyts. ds 

least outrage. The seamen at each of the ports organized 
themselves and proceeded to carry out their plans with 
great method ; they visited the ships as they came iuy 
and brought the men on shore, requiring them to join 
their brethren, under pain of having their faces blacked 
and their jackets turned, andbeing thus exhibited through 
the streets, with other contemptuous treatment. They 
observed the strictest discipline among themselves, and 
severely punished those who were guilty of any disturb-^ 
anoe ; they'were mustered every morning, when the roll 
was called, and any absent without leave were fined ;: 
a watch was also set every night, by whom the streets 
were patroled and cleared of any who were guilty of 
disorder. The trade of the port was entirely stopped 
for several weeks. The tars having it all their own way^ 
not a ship had left the port. The ship-owners firmly 
resisted their demands, and at last took active measures^ 
in concert with the magistrates to get the ships to sea^ 
On the 22nd October an attempt was made to get the* 
Lady Cathcart to sea j her sails were all set, and her 
ropes ready to be cast off, when a number of the seamen! 
who had been watching the proceeding jumped on board,, 
lowered and stowed the sait, moored the ship, and kept 
possession till too late to get to sea. This was the* 
culminating point of the strike ; the arm of the law was 
brought to bear upon these engaged in this affair f 
warrants were obtained ; some of the men were taken 
mto custody ; several magistrates came and summoned 
the householders to be sworn in as special constables^ 
These now took up the work of the seamen in patroling' 
the streets ; the force of the strike had expended itself^ 



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96 



HISTORY OF BLYTE. 



and it at once collapsed. The men went to their ships, 
and things presently went on in their usual course* Two 
young seamen that were engaged in preventing the Lady 
Cathcart from going to sea were tried at the sessions, and 
found guilty of the charge alleged. One of them had 
just come home from a man-of-war, where he had fought 
in one of the unsuccessful combats with the Americans. 
On the trial he pleaded his services in the navy in 
mitigation of punishment, but in vain, they were both 
sentenced to serve some months in the house of correction. 




(gxB 



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CHAPTEE Tt. 

feouse-building. "Blyth Gleaner." Lbcal n^ws; First SteatA-bo&ti 
%illiam Smith's discovery of South Shetland. Death of Mrs. Short. Mr. 
Thoburh. Mr. G. Hutchinson. 

^LYTH being still the business p£upt of the town it 
was preferred for shops. In 1815 there was 
quite a rage (or building; till then there was only a 
part of the west side of Blagdon-street^ and the east side 
of Sussex-street built, and between those half streets an 
unsightly row of old buildings stood, consisting ot 
fitables, butchers' shops, and two or three houses ; these 
were pulled do'vmj and in a short time the east side of 
Blagdon-street, and the west side of Sussex-streetj and 
the shops uniting the two streets along the Wagon-hill^ 
were erected. The old portion of the town has been 
little changed since then, except by the building of 
Bridge and Eidley streets, till the improvements that 
are at present being carried forward in Freehold and 
Eldon streets. But at Waterloo and Cowpen Quay 
there went on a constant increase of houses, till it has 
arrived at what we see it at the present day; 

In 1816 Mr. Ghithrie siet up the first printing press in 
Blyth^ in the attic of the house in which the writer has 
so long resided in Sussex-st* He commenced to publish 
a periodical entitled the ''Blyth Monthly Gleaner, ^^ in 
June, 1817 ; it was continued until August, 1819. There 
is little in it to interest at the present time, except a few 
paragraphs about local matters, a few of which we will 
give as throwing light on the state of the town at that 

H 



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98 SIS TOE Y OF BL TTE. 

period. In the first number he says, '*Blyth is not 
devoid of antiquity, to make it interesting to the traveller, 
for there is yet to be seen, in a field contiguous to the 
Bedlington turnpike, the remains of an ancient encamp- 
ment, which, after being intersected by Plessy wagon- 
way, again makes its appearance in a field behind the 
church. At the time the troops were in camp at Blyth 
several military gentlemen inspected this piece of an- 
tiquity, who were of opiaion that it was the remains of 
an entrenched camp." The camp here noticed might 
have been seen exactly as it was then up to the present 
year when the east side of Eldon-street obliterated 
the greater portion of it. The south-eastern portion of it 
may still be seen in the pit field, a little way from Mr, 
Darling's garden. It is now impossible to make out by 
what people it was originally formed, but most probably 
by the Danes. September 1st : " Since the establishment 
of a lock-up hou^e here the town is pretty well cleared of 
those numerous gangs of vagrants which lately infested 
it." Jan., 1819 : " It is with unfeigned regret that we 
notice several disgraceful transactions which have 
recently been committed here; such as breaking win- 
dows, interrupting and ill-using females in the street, 
and various other outrages alike disgraceful to human 
nature. Unless a more efficient police be estabiished, 
and part of the most active of the inhabitants accompany 
such police in their rounds, we fear every other means 
will prove abortive. Liberal rewards have been offered 
for the detection of those who broke the panes in the 
house of P. Holland, Esq., without effect ;" there is an 
entire page of complaints, April — "The Ekanar^ of 



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3IST0R T OF BL TTH. 99 

this port, is supposed to have been lost oflf Yarmouth, 
on the 3rd ultimo, as several pieces of wreck, and a boat 
marked * JEleanor, of Blyth," have come on shore at that 
port. The following is a list of the unfortunate suffer- 
ers : — Robt. Downie, master, Henry Scaife, mate, Eobt. 
Foreman, carpenter, James Boyd and George Robinson, 
seamen, Marshall, Humble, Spowart, Rutter, and Beam- 
son, apprentices, George Lough, passenger." May 1st — 
" We are glad to have to notice the praiseworthy ex- 
ertions of our churchwarden, in lately causing two 
individuals to be put into the lock-up house, for having 
been found tippling during divine service; and for 
having deterred numbers of boys from gathering to- 
gether and playing at pitch-hal^enny on the Sundays* 
Upwards of £35 have been collected for the relief of the 
widows and children of the men recently lost on board 
the Eleanor. The rage for velocipedes still increases, 
and Blyth, since our last has got contaminated with the 
mania; four of these automata, the workmanship of 
their several proprietors, may be seen parading about 
the streets, managed with a dexterity that would do 
credit to any first-rate dandy of the metropolis !" 

Junje Ist— " We are sorry to state that the Jane^ of 
this port, a fine new vessel, on her first voyage, was 
totally lost on the 27th ult., near the Khol ; the mate 
and four men were saved by a Norwegian vessel, and 
landed at Elsinore; but the master, William Richardson, 
was imfortunately drowned." In the next month is 
the following — " The recent loss of the Jane, of this 
port, will be fresh ia the recollection of our readers. At 
,that time a dog was on board, which, with the crew, 

h2 

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100 mSTORT OF BLTTS. 

was picked up by a Norwegian vessel bound to Riga;. 
This animal, called " Pincher," was given to the Nor- 
wegian captain by the mate of the Jane^ and proceeded 
with the vessel to Eiga, since tvhich time nothing has 
been heard of the faithful animal, until last Monday 
evening, when he arrived at the residence of his late 
master at Blyth, much cut up by want, and seemingly 
long travelling." 

June 1st, 1819 — >" Since our last there has been the 
greatest number of ships in Blyth harbour, that waff 
ever known in the recollection of the oldest inhabitant. 
On the 8th ult. there were 67 sail : 64 laden, 2 in dock, 
and 1 in ballast. On account of the wind remaining 
some time in the south, the laden vessels coidd not get 
to sea, and several continuing to come in ahnost daily, 
caused such a grand display on the above day. A din- 
ner was liberally given by the otvners of Cowpen: 
CoUiery, at Mr. Bowers', to aU the captains in the 
harbour, and the afternoon was spent in the most agree- 
able manner." 

The owners of Cowpen CoUiery in endeavouring to 
obviate the inconvenience of vessels not being able to 
get out of Blyth in a southerly wind, resolved to make 
an experiment with a steam-boat belonging Newcastle, 
to tow ships to sea. The boat arrived in the harbour 
between seven and eight in the morning of the 18th 
of Jime, 1819. In the forenoon, the Reaolutwny captain 
T. Hogg, coal laden, was towed as far as the outer 
beacon, to the great satisfaction of a number of specta- 
tors. A brig and a sloop, both laden, were towed to 
sea in the same style. The steamer then returned to* 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 101 

the quay, when a party of shipowners, &e., went on 
board, and spent the afternoon in great conviviaKty. 
The boat proceeded to Newcastle on the following mom- 
ning, towing another laden vessel to sea. The Gleaner 
adds "In consequence of this successful experiment it is 
in contemplation to have a steam-boat for the use of the 
port, a measure which every well-wisher to the place 
must view with satisfaction." A steam-boat was soon 
after this procured. The Dispatch steamer came to 
Blyth in December, 1819, and her first job was towing 
to sea the Brilliant^ G. Buhner, master, and the Richard 
and Ann, Stephen Bergen, master. 

Mr. "William Smith had his name brought prominently 
before the public in 1820, by some naval officers on 
the coasts of South America reporting home that an 
Antarctic continent, or long series of Islands, of whose 
existence an ancient rumour is reported, had been dis- 
covered by Captain William Smith, of the brig, 
William^ of Blyth. It had always been the custom 
for our trading vessels to keep as near as possible to 
Cape Horn, in passing into the Pacific. Mr. Smith, in 
a voyage from Monte Video to Valparaiso, rounded the 
Horn in a high southern latitude, and fell in with a line 
of coast, which he followed for two or three hundred 
miles, and which he named New South Shetland ; he 
landed and took possession of it in the name of His 
Britannic Majesty. The extent of this group is from 54 
to 65 west longitude, and from 61 to 64 south latitude. 
It consists of numerous islands without a vestige of ve- 
getation, except a species of moss, and in a few solitary 
spots something resembling grass. The interior is 



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102 HISTORY OF BLYTE. 

mountainous, and covered with eternal snow. A species 
of coal was found which burnt well. He passed large 
bays, which abounded in spermaceti whales ; seals were 
extremely plentiful, and shrimps and penguins were nu- 
merous beyond description. The large islands are five 
in number. Some of the harbours are very good ; vessels 
in them being land-looked. After landing at Valpar- 
aiso, he made his discovery known to the British naval 
authorities there, and a party of naval officers accom- 
panied him in his vessel to verify and certify to his 
discovery, and New South Shetland has since appeared 
on the maps of the world. Mr. Smith was master of 
the Lady Ridley of Blyth, in 1801 ; he continued in her 
for some years, and in 1815 became part owner of the 
William; in this vessel he proceeded to South America. 
The Spanish possessions in South America had just 
thrown ofiF the yoke of the mother country, and the 
ports of those extensive countries were opened to British 
ships and commerce. Smith engaged in this trade, and 
it was in one of his voyages iato the Pacific that he 
made this discovery. No profit arose to him from his 
discovery, and after spending some years in trading to 
the ports of South America, he returned to Blyth a poorer 
man than when he left it. He afterwards became a 
North Sea pilot, and resided in London. I cannot eon- 
elude this account of Smith without noticing the strange 
circumstances imder which a daughter of his met her 
death. She was the wife of Mr. Christopher Short. 
Having no family, Mrs. S. went to sea with her husband 
for many years, and had thus visited most parts of the 
world. Short was master of the Mary FhrencCy and was 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 103 

taking a cargo of coals to Aden ; they had nearly reached 
their port, when the ship grounded two miles south of 
Gaurdifu, on the African side of the entrance to the Eed 
Sea. The chief officer's account of the affair is as fol- 
lows : — We remained by the wreck three days, during 
which time the natives appeared friendly ; capt. Short, 
fearing the ship might go to pieces, sent me on shore to 
receive his wife ; after Mrs. S. came on shore, I left her 
with the second officer, the steward, and three seamen, 
and went on board and had some conversation with capt. 
S. ; I returned on shore with one of the chronometers ; 
in about half an hour I tried again to go on board, but 
the natives cut the line, and let me into the surf: I was 
making all haste towards the b^ach, when I met Mrs. S. 
wf|,ding up to the knees in the water, crying, and telling 
me that the natives had taken the rings off her fingers, 
and had chased her into the sea. I then swam out to- 
wards the wreck, and hailed for them to send a boat, 
which they did, but without any one in her and without 
oars, however, we put Mrs. S. into her, and tried to pull 
off with the loose thwarts and the keel planks. After 
getting pretty well through the surf, the boat unfortu- 
nately swamped ; I then got hold of Mrs. S. and tried 
to swim to land with her, but a heavy sea parted us ; as 
soon as I could I turned round to see what had become 
of her, but it now being dark I saw nothing more of 
her ; I then did my utmost to reach the shore, which I 
was enabled to do, thank God. I now found that the 
steward and one seaman were all that were saved, Mrs. 
S. and the others having met a watery grave. On the 
day after this Mr. Short left the wreck in the long boat 



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J04 HISTORY OF BLYTB. 

with that portion of the crew that had remained ob 
board, without seeking any intercourse with those on 
shore, and, of course, ignorant of what had become of 
Mrs. S. and the people that were with her. He directed 
his course to Aden, where the chief officer joined him a 
month afterwards, and told him of the fate of his wife. 
Christopher Short was a native of Blyth, and belonged 
to a branch of the family of the Shorte of the Link-end. 
After the above mishap he gave up the sea, and became 
pjx examiner in the Local Marine Board at Newcastle. 

No history of Blyth would be complete without an 
ample notice of Mr. James Thobum, who gained and 
held by his commanding talents and consistent charac- 
ter, a leading position in the town for many years. The 
following is from the obituary notices in the Tym 
Mercury, December 3rd, 1833: ^'At Blyth, on the 24th 
ult., after a short illness, aged 56, Mr. James Thobum. 
He was a man of great intellectual endowments, a good 
mathematician, and his literary attainments enabled him 
to contribute to many periodical works of the day. His 
urbanity of manners made him easy of access, and to 
the complaints of the indigent he ever lent a willing 
ear, enjoying the reward of self-approval, when, by his 
benevolent exertions the orphan's welfare had been pro- 
moted, or the widow's wrongs had been redressed. In 
all the domestic relationships of life his deportment was 
endearing and afifectionate, and in his commerce with 
mankind guiding himself at all times by the strictest 
principles of integrity and truth ; he has gone down to 
the grave honoured, beloved, and regretted by his 
fesu^ 9^pd a large circle of &iendfl.. Lx the remav^Jl of 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 105 

^uoh an estimable man, Blyth has suffered an irreparable 
loss. Mr. Thobiim's intellect was of a high order, im- 
proved by study and observation. His views were 
enlightened and liberal. He employed a considerable 
portion of his leisure in early life to the acquisition of 
mathematical knowledge, and his attainments in this 
noble science, as estimated by able judges, were highly 
respectable; and he never omitted befriending to the 
utmost extent of his power such deserving young men 
as were engaged in his favourite pursuit. His great 
experience in business, extensive commercial information, 
intimate acquaintance with the nature and management 
of shipping property, expertness in calculation, sound 
judgment and unimpeadiable integrity, accompanied 
by a disposition peculiarly friendly and obliging, greatly 
enlarged the sphere of his usefulness, and justly pro- 
cured for him the confidence and respect of his fellow 
townsmen, and all with whom he was connected. Mr, 
Thobum possessed more than an ordinary share of that 
virtuous sensibility which leads us to take a deep interest 
in the happiness of others. In his domestic and social 
relationships he was singularly amiable— an affectionate 
husband, an indulgent father, a generous relation, a kind 
neighbour, a humane and considerate master. These 
excellencies of character, it is but justice to say, were in 
Mr. Thobum, sustained and adorned by genuine, solid, 
unostentatious piety. The writer of this paragraph 
speaks from personal knowledge when he states, that 
although Mr. Thobum carried on an extensive commerT 
cial correspondence, he seldom wrote or answered letter^ 
QH the Sabbath, and that numerous as his engagement 



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106 HISTORY OF BLYTE. 

were, his attention to the public duties of this sacred 
day were in a high degree regular and exemplary. May 
the example of our departed friends make a suitable 
impression upon our minds!" 

The following is from the Northumberland Advertiser ^ 
of December 10th, 1833:— "The remains of the late 
Mr. James Thobum were interred in Horton church- 
yard, on Wednesday last. The funeral procession, 
consisting of a number of mourning coaches and other 
vehicles, and followed by many gentlemen on horseback, 
left Waterloo-place a little after one o'clock, amidst a 
large concourse of the inhabitants of Blyth and neigh- 
bourhood, who had long respected the worth and 
appreciated the usefulness, of the deceased. The usual 
service was performed in an impressive manner by the 
Eev. Mr. Thompson ; the remains were then deposited 
in the vault prepared for them, to the evident and deep 
regret of all present." 

It would be imgrateful in the writer to omit the name 
of William Ghrieves Hutchinson, who commenced his 
labours as a schoolmaster shortly after the comnencement 
of the present century and for more than thirty years 
conducted a large and flourishing school in the town, 
at the period of his death the larger portion of the male 
population either were or had been his pupils. His 
system of teaching was very simple, but in his hands 
proved remarkably efficient. If a boy under his teaching 
had any capacity for learning he was sure to bring it 
out. But then he ruled the school after the olden 
fashion ; he had not then dreamt of conducting a school 
without the use of the tawse : and truly it was no trifle 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 107 

to the boy who received a flagellation with tawse wielded 
by his long and vigorous arm ! During his lifetime 
the presentation of a testimonial in acknowledgment of 
his successful labours as a teacher was spoken about, but 
the project failed. This slight notice by an old pupil is 
intended to preserve a little longer from obKvion the 
name of a man who, though he did not die rich, con- 
ferred higher benefits on the town than did any of those 
who made fortunes in it. The first school he occupied 
has long since disappeared : it was a shabby woooden 
erection Kttle superior to an Irish hedge school. 




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CHAPTEE VII. 

Religion in Blyth. Chapel at Newsham. Oliverian survey. Church- 
wardens' presentment. Catholics presented. Blyth Church built Minis-< 
ters. Nonconformity. Ministers. Chapel built, 1814. Broadbelt causes 
B division. Burgher congregation. Chapel built, 1828. Mr. Carmichael. 
Messrs. Heron, Johnston, and Robertson; Mr. Reid. Introduction of 
Methodism. Chapel on the Quay. Wesleyan Chapel. New Connexion 
Chapel. Primitives. Wesleyan Free Church. Roman Catholic Chapel. 

SHAV-hi discovered no trace of any place of reUgious 
worship, or means of religious instruction in Blyth 
prior to 1751. In times antecedent to that date, how- 
ever, there was a Catholic chapel attached to the mansion 
house at Newsham, where no doubt the inhabitants 
of Blyth would worship. This chapel was standing 
in 1586, when the house was occupied by John 
Ogle, but nothing is said about a priest being 
then attached to it. The Delaval family continued 
till about this time to keep a chaplain, and a clause 
in a will made by Sir John Delaval in 1655, may 
throw some light on how the chapel may have been sup- 
plied. The clause reads thus: "I will that Sir Richard 
Anderson, clerk and chaplain, have meat and drink with 
my son John Delaval, and also for doing duty during 
his natural life, four pounds, six shillings, and eight- 
pence; and if he shall be, by age, or otherwise devexed, 
or blind, to have his meat and drink, and the same an- 
nual stipend, of four pounds, six shillings, and eight- 
pence, while he liveth," 

This Sir John Delaval appears to have remained in 
oonnexion with the Boman Catholic church, and as the 



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Ms TOE Y OF BL TTH. 109^ 

few inhabitants of Newsham and Blyth Nook continued 
till more than a centuiy after in favour of the old faith,, 
there is no doubt that Sir John's chaplain would attend 
to their spiritual wants. 

At this time began to be enacted those terrible penal 
laws against the Roman Catholic religion, which were 
not finally abolished till the reign of George IV; popish 
priests were banished the kingdom, and those who har- 
boured or relieved them were guilty of felony. Many 
were executed in consequence of these severe edicts. A 
mere summary of the laws against Roman CathoKcsy 
under forty-six heads, occupies 77 octavo pages in Bums' 
Ecclesiastical Law! The "wisdom of our ancestors"" 
deemed such laws necessary to the safety of the state* 
Certainly on no other ground, if on that^ could they ber 
defended. About ft hundred years after this, and during^ 
the Comnlonwealth, there took place what has been 
termed the "Oliverian survey," a sort of commission 
that was employed in ascertaining what provision existed 
for the religious instruction of the people of Northum-*- 
berland. The case of Blyth was considered at aii 
inquisition taken at Morpeth, on the 1st of June, 1650v 
before William Fenwick, Ralph Delaval, William 
Shaftoe, Henry Ogle, John Hall, and Luke Killingn. 
worth. As the result of their inquiries, they advised 
an arrangement that would have connected Blyth with 
the chapelry of Horton. " That the chapelry of Horton 
is belonging to the parish of Woodhom, and the cure 
thereof supplied by Mr. Mepham, and is worth £18 at 
present, but hath formerly been worth £30; that by" 
feason of the commodious situation of the said chapels 



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no msTORT OP szyrm 

it may fitly be made a parish olmroh of itself, and the 
chapeliy of Cramlington, and the to\^ of Newsham and 
Blyth Nook, belonging unto but far distant from the 
parish church at Earsdon added to it*" The great dis- 
tance of Earsdon from Blyth, seven miles, must have 
prevented any great number going thence to church ; 
and if ever so disposed, there was great irregularity of 
pastoral labour at Earsdon. In the Oliverian survey of 
1650, it is stated respecting Earsdon, " the stipend 
thereof is four pounds, thirteen shillings, and fourpence, 
from fee farm rents, but no present incumbent there P In 
1662, we have the same complaint in a presentment 
made by the churchwardens. It is a singular picture of 
the spiritual state of the entire parish, in which was 
the residence of one of the members of parliament for 
the county, Ralph Delaval, esq., and four or five other 
families of considerable landed property. The present- 
ment runs thus: " Concerning ministers, preachers, and 
lecturers, we have not had a minister these two years. 
Concerning parish clerk and sexton, we have no clerk 
by reason we want a minister. We have a man to look 
to the church and keep it clean, and lock the doors. We 
have neither physician nor chirurgeon within our cha- 
pelry; we have a midwife, Margaret, the wife of George 
Berteron, of Seghill, which is not Kcensed according to 
our knowledge; we have one poor man." The next 
year Philip Cramlington, of Newsham, Thomas Cram- 
lington, of the same place, and Edward Jubb, of Blyth, 
are presented as papists by the churchwardens of 
Earsdon, at the archdeacon's visitation. When the 
Protestant church was doing so little towards instruoting 



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msTos r OF bl ytm. hi 

the people, it might have been expected the Catholic& 
would have been let alone, but not so; even up to 1715 
they continued thus to be annoyed. The doctrine that 
it is wrong to persecute is a modem one; it was a long 
time before men worked their way to the truth, that it 
is a sin and a crime to punish others for conscience' sake. 

In 1706 We have an account of papists in the ward of 
Newsham, Gheorge Errington and Madame Errington, 
Mary Blakey, Mary Graim, Philip Jubb, Jeane Achy- 
son, John Robeyson and wife and sons. And in 1715 
the names of Francis Welton, of Link-house, gentleman j 
and William Silvertop, gentleman, of South Blyth; 
occur with John Burlinson, also of South Blyth, yeoman, 
in a list of papists and non-jurors who^rpfused to tako 
the oaths. 

Blyth Church was built by the Eidley family, in tho 
year 1751, as a Chapel of Ease to the parish church of 
Earsdon, and for the convenience of the inhabitants of 
Blyth. It was opened for Divine worship by the Eev^ 
Mr. Mattmson, curate of All Saints, Newcastle, in the 
August of that year, his sermon on the occasion being 
preached from the 84th Psalm, 10th verse — "I had 
rather be a door-keeper in the house of my God than 
dwell in the tents of wickedness." The first minister 
was the Eev. Joseph Wood ; he was succeeded by the 
Eev. John Thompson, who received his first half-year'* 
salary of £20 on the 11th May, 1761, and continued 
" passing rich on £40 a-year" to the termination of his 
long ministry in 1810. He married a daughter of Mr^ 
George Marshall, and was a respectable man, maintain- 
ing during the whole period of his ministry an un- 



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lis mSfOR Y OF BL YTH. 

blemished reputation. A tomb-stone is er<ected to his 
memory by the members of the congregation, on 
which is the following inscription : " To the Memory 
of the late Eev. John Thompson this stone is dedicated 
by the inhabitants of Blyth, in grateful remembrance 
of his many yirtues, piety, and learning ; who for 
the space of 49 years devoted the whole of his use- 
ful labours for their benefit and instruction. He died 
May lOth^ 1810, aged 76." His successor was the 
Eev. Mr; Eix, who was esteemed as an attractive 
preacher, but soon left. The Eev. Eobert Greenwood 
then became minister, and continued till his death, 
which took place on December 30th, 1859, at the ad- 
vanced age of 82; He was a man of considerable 
learning, and of a most amiable and kind disposition, 
though exceedingly retired in his habits. He had a 
venerable andj to the last, handsome appearance. During 
the whole of his prolonged ministry he was held in very- 
great and deserved respect* He was succeeded by the 
Eev. William Qreenwellj M. A., whose zealoiis and 
active pastorate has already resulted in a greatly im- 
proved congregation ; another result we trust will soon 
follow— ^the erection of a handsome New Church. This 
has not yet been accomplished. The present Chdplain 
is the Eev. David Thomas Jones. 

We cannot state with exactness when the first Non- 
conformist Congregation was gathered in Blyth, but in 
1786 there was a Presbyterian minister in the town 
named Craig, who, in addition to his ministerial work, 
taught a school somewhere near the Queen's lane, 
trheir first meeting place was in the first house on the 



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EI8T0RY OF BLYTH, 115 

left hand after leaving the street to go to Mr. Smith's 
Eopery* In 1790, Mr, Ochiltree, who resided at Seaton 
Sluice, and was pastor over a congregation there, also 
preached at Blytk After this, a Mr. Blyth was pastor 
over the two congregations; he was at Hartley, in 
June, 1791, as appears by a newspaper paragraph of 
that date : " We hear that Mr. James Blyth, son of the 
Eev, Mr. Blyth, of Hartley, underwent an examination 
at Surgeons* Hall, London, on the 5th ult., and on the 
27th by the Physicians of the Eoyal Hospital at Gfreen- 
wich, for a Surgeon in the Eoyal Navy, when he 
acquitted himself with great applause." In 1804, Mr. 
Blyth had either died or left, as there was no minister 
in Blyth at that time ; and the Methodists of the New 
Connexion were for some time allowed the use of the 
preaching room. Then a Mr. Whitfield ministered for 
some little time, and was succeeded by Mr. Eobertson, 
who came as an Independent. Mr. E. was a native, 
and free burgess of Newcastle; he was educated at 
Lady Huntingdon's college at Trevecca. Affcer being 
a few years in Blyth he went to London, and collected 
among the Independents there the money with which 
in 1814 he built the chapel. In 1820 there was a 
split from his congregation, headed by a preacher named 
Broadbelt who was visiting at Mr. E.'s house. Broad- 
belt died in a very few weeks afterwards. The 
seceders were persuaded by a person who had been 
brought up among the Burghers to apply to that de- 
nomination for a supply of preaching. They did so, and 
liad a preaching place first at Grofton, and afterwards, 
for several yearsi in two rooms of a house at Cowpen 

I 



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114 HISTORY OF BLYTE. 

Qtiay which Mr. Jobson fitted up for them. During 
these years they had no regular minister but were 
supplied with probationers. The chapel at Waterloo 
was opened for Divine worship January 6th, 1828, by 
the Rev. Mr. Gilmore, of North Shields, and the Rev. 
Mr. Lawson of South Shields. The late Rev. Daniel 
Carmichael was the first minister; he was ordained 
June 8th, 1829, after he had supplied the pulpit for 
some time. For a period of 31 years he laboured with 
acceptance and increasing useftdness. He was a good 
preacher, and, until the failure of his health, an energetic 
one ; but perhaps his usefulness was owing in its greatest 
measure to his personal character. He was a man of 
veiy fine spirit ; kind, generous, and catholic. Kindness 
was his greatest power, with which he not merely won 
the respect but the strong and affectionate attachment 
of his people, and indeed of all who knew him. As a 
proof of this feeling towards him, on Monday, June 8th, 
1860, being the twenty-first anniversary of his ordination, 
the Rev. W. Oscar Johnston, of the English Presbyterian 
church, and captain Henry Taylor, waited upon him at 
his residence, and in the name and on behalf of a number 
of his Mends and neighbours, of aU religious denomina- 
tions, presented with their congratulations a purse 
containing thirty-five sovereigns, as a token, though 
altogether inadequate, of their affection and esteem. Mr. 
Carmichael gratefcdly acknowledged the gift, at the 
same time expressing the pleasure he felt in its not 
being contributed by his own congregation alone, but 
by Christians of every name. He suffered much during 
the last eight or ten years of his life, and died March 



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SISTOBT OF BLYTH. 115 

6th, 1860. Mr. Craig, his successor, was ordained 
March 12th, 1861. 

After the division in 1820, to which I have referred, 
Mr. Eohertson's congregation remained very small for 
many years; until Mr. Heron became his assistant, 
when for a time it improved, and a gallery was put into 
the chapel; but as neither of these gentlemen were 
remarkable for pulpit power the congregation again 
dwindled down, and might have died out entirely, but 
at the time of the disruption in the Scotch Kirk Mr. 
Heron accepted the oflfer of a living in Scotland, and 
Mr. Johnston became pastor. Mr. Robertson was by 
this time incapacitated through age from active labour. 
He died in June, 1846, aged 84. He is well remembered 
by all the old, and many of the younger, inhabitants as 
" Old Priest Robertson." The old gentleman had some 
eccentricities ; one was that of attending all, or nearly 
all, funerals, invited or uninvited. He had, however, 
always paid his visits during the last sickness, and he 
seemed as if he considered his particular mission to be 
that of visiting the sick and seeing the dead to their last 
resting place. Another eccentricity was tapping every- 
body he met on the shoulder with his stick, — ^in a very 
friendly way, of course, though not always very gently. 
During the ministry of Mr. Johnston tiiere was some 
improvement eflfected in the state of the church and 
congregation, but the better days and present position 
of the church date their conmiencement from the coming 
of the present respected pastor, the Rev. John Reid, A:M. 
He was ordained February 11th, 1852, and during his 
pastorate the chapel has been re-built and greatly 

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116 HISTORY OF BLYTK. 

enlarged ; a house has also been purchased as a residence 
for the minister, and of late a school-room has been 
erected for day and sabbath school purposes. . 

We now come to the history of Methodism in the 
town. John Wesley had finished his life of usefiilness 
and entered his reward before more than one solitary 
attempt had been made to introduce Methodism into 
Blyth. This is the more remarkable, as Mr, Wesley 
himself, the first time he visited the north, planted a 
Bodety at Plessy. In his Journal, we find he visited 
Hessy on Good Friday, 1743. He also writes, " On 
Easter Monday and Tuesday I preached there again, 
the congregation constantly increasing : and as most of 
those had never in their Kves pretended to any religion 
of any kind they were the more ready to cry to God, as 
mere sinners, for the redemption which is in Jesus.*' 
In the same year we find the following entry : " July 
17th, Sunday. I preached, as I had done the Wednesday 
before, to my favourite congregation at Plessy, on *Him 
hath God exalted with his own right hand to be a 
Prince and a Saviour.' I then joined a little company 
of them together, who desire repentance and remission 
of sins." At Hartley a society had been established 
at an early date, and from thence the first effort was 
made to introduce Methodism into Blyth. The first 
preacher who caone was John GrundeU, afterwards so 
well known and highly esteemed as a preacher in the 
Methodist New Connexion. Mr. G., though blind, was 
a young man of good information on most subjects, and 
mighty in the scriptures ; and having great zeal and a 
commanding voice and manner he received invitations 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 117 

to visit almost all the plaoes within several miles of 
Sunderland, his place of residence. In 1783, when on 
a visit to Hartley, he was conducted by Mr. Cooper, a 
highly esteemed class-leader of that place, to Blyth, 
where he had the honour to preach the first Methodist 
sermon the people of that town had the privilege to hear. 
This eflfort, however, was not followed up, and several 
years elapsed before anything more was done. At length 
the Plessy Methodists turned their attention to Blyth, 
and occasionally sent a preacher. From 1791 to 1796 
Messrs. Hunter, Atmore, Gaulter, Fumess, and Kilham, 
visited the town and preached. The preacher usually 
came on the Sabbath morning, accompanied by a few 
friends from Plessy, and preached before church hours. 
Mr. Hunter took his stand beside the church gate, and 
preached from " Godliness is profitable unto aU things," 
&c. It would doubtless be a labour of love to him to 
speak to the people of Blyth about the advantages of 
godliness ; both place and people would remind him of 
times long gone bye. He was well known in the town 
in his early days, having, before he became an itinerant 
preacher, followed the humble occupation of a coal 
waggoner between Plessy and Blyth. William Hunter, 
then qidte a youth, was one of the little company whom 
Mr. Wesley united in Christian fellowship in Plessy, in 
1743. After preaching for several years in his own 
neighbourhood Mr. Wesley employed him as an itinerant 
preacher, and in this capacity he endured a large share 
of the hardships, and was encouraged with a large 
measure of the wonderftd success, which attended the 
labours of the first race of Methodist preachers. There 



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118 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

is an account of Mr. Hunter in Jackson's " lives of 
Early Methodist Preachers." When Mr. Atmore 
preached it was a damp morning, and old James 
Matthewson (afterwards of the Black Bull) having 
charge of the brewery offered the mall:-mi11 in which to 
hold the service ; the offer was accepted, and hence the 
brew-house was the first building in which Methodirt 
service was conducted. Mr. Atmore's text was, " Now 
then we are ambassadors for Christ, as though God did 
beseech you by us ; we pray you in Christ's stead, be ye 
reconciled to God." Mr. Gaulter preached in the long 
room of the Star and Garter, and Mr. Fumess stood at 
the comer of the brew-house and preached from "Prepare 
to meet thy God." The inhabitants came out to the 
services in considerable numbers, listened attentively, 
and behaved with great decorum, but always kept at a 
respectful distance. For several years, however, nothing 
was done towards gathering a regular society, or es- 
tablishing regular preaching. About this time Cowpen 
Colliery was opened, which gave a great impetus to 
trade, and brought a large accession to the popidation 
of the neighbourhood. It was amongst these new comers 
Methodism made its first friends, and where the first 
society was formed. In the summer of 1796 Mr. TCilham 
preached in Cowpen-square ; and under his discourse a 
female named Jane Atkinson was converted. This was 
the first fruit of the Methodist ministry in the neighbour- 
hood. Among those who had recently come into the 
neighbourhood was Mr. John Weatherbum, who had 
been for some time a Methodist, and now findiag him- 
self surrounded by a large and increasing population, with 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 119 

Kttle or no provision for their spiritual wants (for even the 
casual visits from Plessy had ceased), he, with commend- 
able zeal, sought, though unsuccessfully, to get Blyth 
upon the preachers' plan to be supplied in the usual way. 
Shortly after this the Methodist New Connexion was 
formed, and the first quarterly meeting of the Newcastle 
circuit was held at Morpeth. Mr. Weatherbum being 
acquainted with many of the friends who had united in 
the new itinerancy, went to the quarterly meeting in 
the hope of getting regular preaching to Blyth. His 
application met with a hearty response from the brethren 
assembled, and Blyth was at once put on the circuit 
plan. He was iappointed leader, and was at once joined 
by Jane Atkinson. Those two worthy persons engaged 
in the enterprize of forming the first Methodist society 
iu the neighbourhood; the first preaching place they 
obtained was a cottage in Cowpen-square, kindly 
granted them by the late Mr. Rd. Hodgson. Here the 
society speedily increased, and considerable good was 
done. The Wesleyans had formed a society, and 
established regular preaching, soon after the New 
Connexion, and like them held their services in the 
outskirts of the town — Crofton, North Farm, &c. ; but 
in 1804 they got the occupancy of a building on the 
quay adjoining the Dun Cow Inn. The rent of the 
place was, however, £5 a-year, besides which it needed 
considerable outlay to make it fit for the reception of a 
congregation, and wisely judging that in this case 
union would be strength, they invited the New Con- 
nection to share the expense and the occupancy. This 
arrangement turned out well for the cause of Methodism 



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120 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

in the town. The place when fitted up with forms was 
capable of sitting 250 people; and eadi section had two 
sennons on every alternate Snndaj from the circuit 
preacher, which made an exoeUait supply. The con» 
gregation soon filled the place, many of the principal 
families were attracted to the Methodist meeting house. 
Mr. Bichard Hodgson and family, Mr. Edmund Watts^ 
and a Mr. and Mrs. Buiy, became members of the New 
Connexion. Mr. Bury was a shipowner, and had 
married a sister of Bichard Hodgson's ; he afterwards 
went to Worthing, in Sussecsc, where he had an estate 
left him. Mr. William Briggs and Mr. James Thobum 
were also regular attendants. 

The Wesleyans and New Gonnexionists continned to 
worship together tiU 1815, whai the former left to 
occupy their new chapel. An excellent feeling had 
subsisted between the two parties while together, and 
they now separated in peace each to pursue their own 
work. The Wesleyan chapel was opened by the Bey» 
A. E. Parrar, July, 1815. After the separation of the 
two sections of course the congregation in the old 
meeting house was greatly thinned ; but they speedily 
increased, and became even larger than before, and on 
the 6th September, 1818, the New Connexion Altered 
upon their new chapel at Waterloo, the opening services 
being conducted by the Bevs. A. Scott and Jos. Manners, 
and Mr. Joseph C^k. 

The Primitive Methodists first visited Blyth in 1826. 
Mr. Clowes, and John and Thomas Nelson, preached. 
They got the old Presbyterian preaching room fitted up 
for worship, but did not succeed in drawing a congrega- 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 121 

tion, and soon after left the place. Ten years afterwards 
they made another effort, and got a ohapel built at Cow- 
pen Quay. The second effort was not permanently 
successful — ^the ohapel was sold, and is now a beer-house. 
In 1849 they built another chapel in a more eligible 
position — ^and more recently still a larger one. Their's 
is now the only place of worship on Cowpen Quay. 

In the Wesleyan Conference of 1849 arose a dispute, 
followed by a prolonged agitation respecting " Question 
by Penalty," and resulting in a secession. Part of tibe 
seceders xmited themselves to the Wesleyan Association, 
which body subsequently adopted the name of, United 
Methodist Free Churches. They established religious 
services at Cowpen Quay, in two rooms occupied by the 
Prunitives before building their second chapel, and 
ultimately entered upon their own chapel at Waterloo. 

Blyth presents a capital otample of the power of the 
voluntary principle to provide religious instruction for 
the population, while the parochial system has utterly 
failed to meet the case. Within the past ten years 
each denomination (with only one exception) has built 
a new place of worship, a list of which, though rather a 
repetition, we subjoin in chronological order: 

Methodist Free Church. Built a chapel which they 
entered upon at Christmas, 1860. 

Roman Catholic. Beautiful chapel built at Waterloo 
and dedicated to Our Blessed Lady and Si Wilfrid. It 
was solemnly opened on the 22nd October, 1862, when 
Pontifical High Mass was performed by the Eight Eev. 
William Hogarth. D.D., Lord Bishop of Hexham. 

United Presbyterian. This church was opened Dec- 



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122 HISTORY OF BLYTE. 

ember lOih, 1863, when the Eev. Dr. Caims, of Berwick, 
preached from Eevelation xix, 9. It cost about £2,600. 
The foundation stone was laid Deo. 24th, 1861, by a son 
of Hugh Taylor, Esq., of Backworth. 

Established Church, The church of S. Mary built at 
Waterloo, opened on the 14th June, 1864, consecrated 
by the Right Eev. the Lord Bishop of Durham as a 
chapel of ease to the parish church of Horton. 

Methodist New Connexion. Foundation stone of a new 
chapel laid Jime 6th, 1865, by Abraham Filling, Esq., 
of Bolton; opened for divine worship Sept. 6th, 1866. 
The first sermon was preached by the Eev. John Hud- 
ston, of Leeds, from verses v and vi, of the 116th Psahn. 
Cost of chapel and schools £2800. 

Congregationalists. This chapel was opened for divine 
worship November 12th, 1868, when the Eev. W. 
Thomas, of Leeds, preached. 

Primitive Methodist. This commodious new chapel 
was opened November 22nd, 1868, when sermons were 
preached by the Eev. L. A. Bastow, of Gtiteshead. 

Wesley an. The foundation stone of this large chapel 
was laid September 17th, 1867, by the Eev. Eobert 
Haworth, of Qtiteshead, as proxy for Hugh Taylor, 
Esq., of Ohipchase castle. Opened February 16th, 
1869, by the Eev. Samuel Eomily HaU, President of 
the Conference. Text, first sermon. 
Chapel cost £2900, and a fine organ, £200 additional. 

£15,000 will be an approximation to the cost involved 
in the above erections. The only denomination not 
represented is the English Presbj/terianj who neverthe- 
less are contemplating a new building. 



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CHAPTER VIII. 

link-end. Fishing. Richard Twizdl. The " English Hero." Bly th*» 
Unlucky Day. Four Pilots drowned. Richard Robinson. Three Shipa 
lost First life-boat disaster. Loss of the " Speedwell." Loss of the 
** Prosperity." Great Gale of 1831. Second Life-boat Disaster. 

THE Lmk-end has been inhabited by fishermen 
from a very remote period, and was long tho 
most important place on the lower part of the river^ 
Adam Fitz-Geofeey claimed the fishery at Blume, in 
connection with the Newsham estate, but the name has 
long since passed away, and we have not anything to 
direct us to where the fishery of Blume was situated. 
Down to 1723 the fishery was let for £5 10s. per annum^ 
at which time Richard Nicholson was tenant. In the 
account of Bedlingtonshire, contained in the Boldon 
Book, 1183, frequent mention is made of the bishop's 
tenants being required to prepare for the fishery ; this 
would probably refer chiefly to salmon fishing, a fish 
that in former times was plentiful in the Blyth. Tradition 
says the monks at Tynemouth had a fishing station at 
Cowpen, and certainly they had tithe of the fish taken 
at Blithe and Hartley, which on the 31st December, 
1536, was farmed by John de la Val, and Eichard 
"Watson, curate of Earsdon, at 208. yearly, at the King's 
will. It is known that herrings were caught on 
these coasts at a very early period, and as that fish would 
then, as now, frequent our bays to spawn the Link-end 
would be a favourable position for conducting that 
fishery. In the 17th century William Hartwell and 



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124 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

Ben Hilton had a twenty-one years' lease of the bishop's 
fishing in the river Blyth, with leave to hang up and 
dry their nets on the banks of the said water. During 
the whole of last century fishing was carried on to a 
much greater extent than at present, for besides providing 
for home consumption large quantities of salted cod-fish 
were sent to the London market. After the close of the 
great French war an attempt was made to extend the 
fishing trade of the port, two keel boats were fitted out 
with crews of five men each : the men employed were 
eeamen, most of whom in their youth had been fisher 
lads. At that time a new branch of the fishing trade 
begun, the catching of brats, a fish akin to the turbot. 
A London company entered into a contract with the 
fishermen to pay them 3s. 6d. a-piece for all the ftJi-sized 
brats they caught and delivered on board the company's 
smacks, one of which was in daily attendance oflF the 
port ; but the earnings of these boats failing sufficiently 
to remunerate the parties engaged the enterprise was 
abandoned. Since then a great number of boats have, 
in some years, engaged in the herring fishery : but even 
this important branch of the trade is not carried on to 
the extent nor with the spirit of former times, and the 
white fishing has almost come to an end; so that instead 
of Blyth supplying the neighbouring population witii 
fish, the chief of its own supply comes from Newbiggin. 
There have been several disasters among the fisher- 
men. The earliest one of which there is any record 
occurred on the great storm of 1st April, 1743, when 
three fishing boats belonging to Blyth were lost, with 
their crews. 



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HISTORY OF BLYTS. 125 

On the morning of the 22nd of April, 1769, Eichard 
Twizell, pilot, Blyth, with two of his sons, and a man 
named Short, proceeded to the fishing ground to their 
great lines : while busied with their* fishing a dreadful 
storm arose from a direction that prevented their return 
to port, and such was its severity, and so extraordinary 
the amount of labour they had to endure, that they soon 
became exhausted. About twelve o'clock Twizell's 
eldest son died; the storm continued with anabated 
fury, and at four o'clock John Short died. There now 
only remained TwizeU and his youngest son surviving ; 
and TwizeU, with the view of lightening the boat, and 
BO increasing the probability of their weathering the 
tempest, proposed to cast the dead bodies into the sea, 
but the lad, who was thirteen years of age, cried and 
besought his father to let them remain. The father 
was overcome by the lad's entreaties, and yielded 
to his wish. Shortly after, while baling water out of 
the boat, the lad fell overboard, but his father caught 
him by the clothes and succeeded in getting him into 
the boat again. The lad had borne up bravdy until 
this mishap, after which he never Kfted his head, and at 
six o'clock he also died. TwizeU was now the only sur^ 
vivor, and the weather continued as tempestuous as 
ever. The strength of the hardy old man was now 
greatly reduced by twelve hours' toU and exposure to 
such a pitiless storm, the night was drawing on, and 
weU might he fear that he would never see another 
morning. HappUy as the night wore on the stona 
abated, and a shift of wind took him towards the shore, 
and when dayUght dawned he was descried off Hau;sle7 



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126 BI8T0RY OF BLYTB. 

by the fishermen, who perceiving that there was some- 
thing amiss with the boat went off to his assistance, but 
were horrified to find three of the crew, dead, and the 
fourth more dead than alive, for by tMs time Twizell 
had sunk into a state of unconsciousness, though lie stOl 
held the oars in his hands, and made a feeble effort to 
row. The boat was landed at Hauxley, and prompt and 
energetic measures were taken to restore the old man, 
which after some time were crowned with success; when 
able to be removed he was taken home on horse-back, 
and the bodies removed to Blyth in the boat. Twizell 
was about fifty years of age, and his eldest son twenty- 
one; both had served onboard a man-of-war. Short 
was an industrious young man, and the support of his 
parents. Twizell lived to be a very old man; the 
present Mr. John TwizeU is his great grand-son. 

In the beginning of 1785 a most destructive storm 
ravaged the coasts of Northumberland and Durham. At 
sea the effects of the storm were dreadfal beyond des- 
cription; a very large number of ships were upon the 
coast, and the wind being accompanied by a very heavy 
fell of snow, the seamen could not see their way into the 
harbours, and as the vessels could not be kept to wind- 
ward, there was no alternative but to run on shore. For 
more than a hundred miles the coast was strewed with 
wrecked and stranded vessels ; between Alnmouth and 
the Coquet eleven lay on the beach, in addition to what 
had foundered. Happily the whole of the crews of 
these eleven were saved. Fifteen were on shore to the 
north of Alnmouth, and between Coquet Island and 
Cresswell point thirty lay in utter ruin. At Blyth, the 



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EI8T0R T OF BL YTS. 127 

English Mero^ belonging to the Tyne, was driven on 
shore; ten of theorew entered the boat, and all perished. 
Two boys were left on board, one of whom went to 
prayer, and when the storm abated was found asleep in 
the cabin, as calm and serene as if no danger were near. 
A poor man walking on the sands diseorered a dead 
body ; on examining the pockets he found £13 ; having 
procured assistance he had the body conveyed to the 
church-yard to await identification, and the money he 
placed in proper hands, for delivery to his friends should 
any appear. 

A great gale and snow-storm occurred April 1, 1799, 
when the John^ of Shields, came on shore behind the 
point-end, and the entire crew were drowned. 

On the 14th of January, 1802, the fishing boats, when 
on the fishing ground, were overtaken by a storm, and 
in running for the harbour one of the boats was upset, 
and a man named Eastcrrby drowned — he was the last 
male of an old Blyth family. On the 14th of January, 
1805, a" pilot-boat, when in the act of boarding the 
Medea^ of Lynn, in the " bight," was upset, and the 
crew, William "Watts, Eobert Eedford, John Hedley, 
and James Nicholson, were lost. Again, on the 14th of 
January, 1808, the fishing boats were caught in a storm 
when fishing. One of the boats remaining to haul her 
lines was, when she did come away, unable to reach the 
harbour ; the wind was from the north-east, with a very 
large tide and heavy sea, when it was seen from the 
shore that the boat, with the utmost effort of the crew, 
could not gain the harbour. A boat, manned with six 
men^ Thomaa Tulley, James Bedford, John Kossack 



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128 HISTORY OF BLYTE. 

Thcxmas Shorty James Short, and Jaiaes Twizell, went 
out to lender help ; but after reaching the straggling 
boat, and making an attempt to bring her into port^ 
€nioh had become the fmy of the wind and sea that both 
boats were driven among the broken water, a little to 
the southward of the harbour, and eveiy soul perished, 
and in the presence of hundreds of people who were 
anxiously watching the heart-rending scene of nine 
fine fellows exerting all their skill and straining eyeiy 
nerve to escape a death that appeared eveiy moment 
more imminent; but vain was the help of man, after a 
most heroic struggle of three hours they were at length 
overpowered. The names of the three men in the first 
boat were Bichard Eobinson, pilot, his son Eichard, and 
his brother-in-law, John Bum. These three disasters 
having all happened on the 14th of January, it was long 
afberwards considered Blyth's unlucky day ; and the 
fishermen never ventured to sea on that day for many 
following years. Bichard Bobinson's father and two 
brothers were lost on the same day; they were Newbiggin 
fishermen; seven other men belonging to Newbiggin 
were lost on the same occasion, making a total of nine- 
teen belonging to Blyth and Newbiggin. £1,701 waa 
promptly subscribed, chiefly in Newcastle and neighbour- 
hood, for their widows, orphans, and other dependants, 
in all 90 persons. The distribution of this charity was 
entrosted to a committee of gentlemen, who discharged 
their trust with care and judgment. John Eobinson, 
afterwards well known as the master and owner of the 
JRasehill, was the son of Bichard Bobinson, 
The Bev. Henxy Cotes, vicar of Bedlington, published 



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mSTORT OF BLYTS. 12* 

a volume of poetry, in which is a Poem ou this disaster, 
but want of space precludes an extract. 

It was felt by all who witnessed the above distressing 
scene that had the brave men who went to the rescue of 
Robinson and his companions been furnished with a 
life-boat instead of a coble all would have ended well, 
and without the loss of a single life. This conviction 
led to measures being taken to procure a life-boat, which 
soon after was accomplished. 

On the 11th of February, 1807, the Leviathan, the 
Dorothy, and the Dorothy* s Increase, were all lost in a 
gale of wind, with the whole of their crews. The 
Leviathan had been a Grreenlander, and together with 
the Dorothy belonged to Mr. Manners, and neither of 
them were insured. The Dorothy* % Increase, a pink- 
stemed barque, belonged to Mr. Colvin, of Crofton. 

On the morning of April 7th, 1810, the morning 
being fine and the sea smoother than it had been for 
several days, a number of Cullercoats fishermen launched 
their boats and went off to their great lines. Whilst 
employed at their fishing a sudden storm broie over 
them, and they had to hasten towards the shore to find 
shelter, but were driven to leeward of Cullercoats, the 
wind blowing from the E.S.E., with a heavy sea. They 
were seen off Hartley in great peril ; the Blyth life-boat 
was sent for and obtained ; a number of people accom- 
panied her. The boat was manned by a crew of 
seventeen men, and put off just by Hartley Bates ; she 
was gallantly rowed through the breakers, and reached 
the cobles. She took eleven men out of the cobles, and 
mioh was the^ confidence of the crew in her capabilities 



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130 HISTORY OF BLYTS. 

that they also took on board a considerable quantity of 
the fishing tackle ; having thus feur succeeded in their 
mission of mercy the question arose among the crew as 
to where they were to land ; the majority were for 
landing where they launched from; others wished to 
run down to Blyth, which they could have easily and 
safely done in less than an hour ; unhappily the former 
opinion prevailed, and they attempted to land on the 
beach. On coming among the breakers a high and 
ridgy wave broke into the boat, severely injuring the 
steersman and stoving the boat ahnost to pieces ; still 
she floated. Another heavy wave followed when she 
was neanng the shore, and being under no command 
she struck the ground, splitting nearly in two ; the cork 
floated and the fragments were entirely dispersed. In 
an instant twenty-eight men were slruggling in the 
surf, in the sight, and within a few yards, of fully 2,000 
people, many of whom saw a father, a husband, or a 
brother perishing before their eyes, without being able 
to render them the smallest aid. Thomas Brown, the 
son of a Hartley pilot, was so nearly saved that he 
obtained footing just opposite where his feither was 
standing; they each recognised the other, and the 
father, crying, " my son, Tom, come to me I " hastened 
to help him ; when they had nearly met the back-sweep 
of a wave carried the young man to sea again, where 
he was overpowered, and ultimately perished. In a few 
moments the death-struggle was over, only two men 
escaped with life, twenty-six having met a watery grave- 
Nine of those who were lost belonged to Blyth, viz : 
Qwiy Shcort, Dunoon 8tewart| John BjbH^ Thos* Turn* 



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BISTORT OF BLYTE. 131 

bull, John Dobie, Wm. Oliver, Wm. Todd, Joseph 
Partis, and Matthew JeflFerson. Short, Stewart, Dobie, 
and Oliver were buried in Blyth churoh-yard on Monday, 
the 9th of April. Henry Short commanded the boat, 
and was a fine good-looking man, and a gallant and 
skilful seaman. He wm the youngest of five brothers, 
at that time pilots at Blyth, when there were but 
twelve pilots attached to the port : he had swam to the 
beach, but being too much exhausted to rise he expired 
bafore he was discovered. Duncan Stewart also reached 
the beach, but being driven with great violence against 
a rock he died. Duncan was an excellent swimmer ; a 
few years before this he had been at sea off Blyth in a 
pilot boat ; on returning he was alone in the boat, tow- 
a-stem of a ship; when crossing the bar the boat filled 
with water and sunk, leaving him to swim for his life. 
He managed to disencumber himself of his pea jacket, 
and after almost superhuman efforts he reached a place 
where he obtained footing ; there he remained till a boat 
was sent to his rescue from the upper part of the harboar. 
Short and Stewart were married men, and left large 
families ; the others were single, and all quite young. 
John Hall was eldest brother to the present Mrs. James 
Darling. Matthew Jefferson was cousin to the writer ; 
the others have no relations here so fax as can be 
ascertained. This disaster was generally attributed to 
the improper materials of which the life-boat was formed. 
The subscribers had contracted with the builders to make 
her of wainscot, with copper bolts, but after she had 
gone to pieces it was discovered that she had been built 
(tf ehtt with iron fastenings ; she was a large boat, and. 

k2 

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132 BISTORT OF BLTTS. 

much more fragile in appearanoe than the life-boats 
built since. It cannot be doubted that if she had been 
as stoutly built as those we have now she would not 
have had her timbers overstrained and her joints loosened 
by the first sea that broke into her, nor have crumbled 
to pieces the first time she came to the groimd. The 
sum of £933 was subscribed for the widows and orphans. 
Six of those lost belonged to Hartley, Josiah Walker, 
Thomas Brown, John Bobinson, Greorge Lee, James 
Morgan, and William Himter ; also Thomas Lilly, who 
was saved ; the other man who was saved was a Swede, 
belonging to the Beckford of Blyth. The Diana, of 
Cambois, came into Blyth on the afternoon the life-boat 
was lost ; as she passed Hartley she picked up the crews 
of two boats, with the exception of one man, John 

^ Taylor, who unfortunately fell overboard in attempting 
to leave his boat, and made in aU twelve Cullercoats men 
who were drowned — ^their names were, William Ann- 
strong and four sons, James Smith and three sons, John 
Taylor and one son, and Eobert Renner. 

A destructive gale occurred in the spring of 1812, 
when the Margaret and Ann, of Blyth, came on shore on 
the " sow and pigs." The Fame, of Seaton Sluice, and 
the Endeavour, of South Shields, came on shore between 
the Link-house and Meggy's bum. The Cumberland^ 
of Shields, was lost with all her crew at Newbiggin ; 
and the Speedwell, of Blyth, went on shore at Hartley 
Bates, and was utterly wrecked and the crew drowned. 
When the wreck was discovered the ship's dog was 

found on the beach, having swam through the surf. 

The Speedwell belonged to Mr. Sibbett, and the new bng 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 133 

which was built to re-place her was named after the dog, 
Rover. 

In the spring of 1827, during a gale, the Prosperity, 
of Sunderland, came on shore at the west side of the 
mouth of the harbour ; her situation was not discovered 
till daylight, when the hull was broken up, the masts 
and yards entangled with the wreck and floating beside 
it, and the crew in the water clinging to the spars. The 
life-boat was manned and went to their help; the 
master seeing the boat within a short distance of them, 
began to cheer his crew by telling them the life-boat 
was at hand, and they would yet be saved. Every 
heart felt assured that the bitterness of death was past, 
but at that moment a wave heavier than ordinary struck 
the life-boat and threw the steersman overboard; con- 
tinuing its course it swept over the wreck, and bore 
away all the crew but one I The life-boat succeeded in 
recovering her steersman, but when again able to proceed 
there was but one poor fellow left, and him they 
succeeded in rescuing from his perilous position. 

Jan. 28, 1831, a gale commenced, which, from its 
violence and long continuance, makes it remembered as 
the greatest storm ever known on the coast : it began 
on the Monday, when a vessel called the Gledow was 
wrecked in the north bay. In crossing the river to 
render aid, a coast guard officer named Ghrylls was 
drowned. A brig, laden with iron, called the Mars, 
was caught in the gale between Blyth and Tynemouth, 
and, to prevent her going on shore, the master brought 
her up and cut away her masts, and he rode out the 
gale. Day after day, while the gale continued, the 



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134 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

mastless ship, breasting the fdrious waves, was the object 
of unceasing interest to spectators along many miles of 
coast. On the Wednesday morning a Sunderland brig 
got on Seaton Sea rocks when running for the harbour, 
and soon went to pieces — ^happily the crew were saved. 
The gale abated on the Friday afternoon ; shortly after 
a large laden brig, called the Belvidere^ had been driven 
on the sands at the mile hiU. Many other ships were 
wrecked during the storm. Among these was the 
Enterprize^ of Wisbeach, with aU her crew. Mr. 
Stephens, the master, was buried in Blyth churchyard ; 
where his relations erected a head-stone to his memory. 
The second life-boat disaster took place on Thursday, 
Oct. 28th, 1841. On the morning of that day the 
Sibsons, George Wood, master, from Archangel, appeared 
off Blyth : there was at the time a heavy sea running, 
and no probability that any boat except the life-boat 
could reach the ship. It having been agreed at a 
meeting of the life-boat committee to launch the boat 
for practice, Mr. Hodgson stated that if it were foimd 
practicable to reach the vessel, to the captain of which 
he wished to communicate some directions, he would 
give a certain sum of money as remuneration for the 
extra labour that might be required ; and judging that 
a favourable opportunity was offered for trying tiie 
capabilities of the boat, he volunteered to go himself. 
Others did the same, and at length the boat was manned. 
The crew consisted of Bpobinson Bum, commander, 
Henry Debord, Joseph Hodgson, William Dixon, James 
White, Daniel Dawson, John Hodgson, Henry Kinch, 
Peter Bughell, George Heron, John Heppell, and 



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SIS TOR Y OF BL YTH. 136 

Edward Wood. As is customary in such cases, each 
man had a line tied to his waist, and fastened to the 
boat; and thus, having provided themselves against 
danger as well as they could, they committed themselves 
to the perils of the deep. Arrived at the mouth of the 
harbour, they, according to nautical phraseology, " lay 
on their oars," watching the sea. After a short time 
orders were given to " pull away." No one on board 
seemed to anticipate any danger, though the sea was 
running very strong, in consequence of the wind, which 
for some days had blown strongly, and still continued 
to blow from the N.E. When the boat had nearly 
passed through the broken water she encountered four 
heavy seas in succession — she went gallantly over the 
three first, but when rising to the fourth, a very heavy 
one, the boat lost way, and instead of passing over the 
wave the boat ran back and forced the oars out of the 
hands of most of the crew. At this critical moment 
another tremendous wave struck the boat on the star- 
board bow, and completely turned her over end. When 
the crew found that the boat had turned over upon 
them, they expected that she would do what it was 
believed all life-boats were sure to do— right herself. 
But soon the terrible conviction forced itself upon them 
that the boat had failed them, and that if they were to 
be saved it must be by some other means. A sense of 
sufifocation began to be felt. Henry Kinch, a capital 
swimmer, loosed himself from the boat, and came from 
under her. Finding that the water was comparatively 
smooth he encouraged the others to come from under 
the boat. Several succeeded, and got hold of the boat; 



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136 HISTORY OF BLTTH. 

while others sunk after a short struggle, and were 
drowned. Seven managed to get upon the boat's 
bottom. Several people had been watching the perform- 
ance of the boat, and as soon as it was seen what had 
occurred news of the disaster spread with the speed of 
the telegraph, and in an incredible short time the beach 
was crowded with thousands of people. The scene was 
the most intensely exciting the writer ever witnessed. 
There was the boat, bottom up, and in a sea-way, with 
seven men clinging to her. There was a warp on board, in 
coil ; this had run out and gone to the bottom, and a 
retarded the boat in driving to the beach. This gave 
time for the spectators to comprehend the full amount 
of the peril in which the poor fellows were placed. It 
was seen that if they were able to keep their precarious 
position on the boat till they came to the surf, then 
would come the trying moment of their fate — ^the nearer 
phe approached the shore the more imminent the danger. 
Now might be seen on a large scale how different 
characters were acted upon by a scene where human life 
was as if hanging [by a thread. Strong men were 
weeping like children, and praying loudly for the Al- 
mighty to have mercy upon the poor and apparently 
doomed men. Thousands would have cheerfully 
ventured their lives to rescue them, but vain was the 
help of man ! At length the dreaded moment came — 
the boat got into the surf — ^for a moment was covered 
with the broken water — and when it was again seen 
there was no man clinging to her ! Shortly one man 
was seen to gain his feet: instantly many of the 
bysfcanders rushed into the waves to lay hold of him and 



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HISTOR Y OF BL YTH. 137 

bring In'm to the shore, which they successfully accom- 
plished. This was Henry Kinch. As soon as he was 
laid hold of another was seen floating on the water 
further out — ^in a moment a rush was made to his help- 
soon one of the foremost discerned the grey hairs of Mr. 
Henry Debord floating on the surface: help was at 
hand, and the belief was that they were in time to save 
his valuable life; but though he gave unmistakeable 
signs of life when laid hold of, by the time he was got to 
the shore life appeared to be gone. After this, for some 
minutes, though a thousand eyes were directed to the 
surf, no one could be seen ; and it was concluded that 
but one of the twelve was saved : at last another man was 
seen at the edge of the surf : this proved to be Mr. Joseph 
Hodgson. He was quickly got out, but in a state of un- 
consciousness ; but through the prompt application of 
proper means was brought to life. Henry Kinch greatly 
distinguished himself on the occasion : it deserves to be 
remembered to his credit that while he had to contend 
with the bUlo ws for his own safety he made vigorous efforts 
to save several of those who unfortunately perished. 

This was a most melancholy occurrence, by which 
several valuable lives were lost. Mr. Henry Debord's 
death was much lamented, being deservedly held in high 
respect by his townsmen. He had retired from the sea 
in the expectation of enjoying, in the eve of life, the 
fruit of many years of toil and danger. Mr. Eobinson 
Bum was a public loss : his coolness and ability as a 
seaman, and the superiority of his character, fitted him 
to be the leader in all enterprises of peril where life or 
piifoperty were endangered by storm and shipwreck. 



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CHAPTER IX. 

Harbour in early times. Quay building. Harbour Improvements and 
Cost. Salt Trade in early times. Six New Pans. Salt Gamer burnt. 
Sleekbum Pans. Salters and smuggling. Coal Trade in early times. 
Wright and Spearman. Plessy coal brought to Blyth. Ships clearing 
over-sea in If 23. Ships clearing coastwise, 1733 Minor articles of export. 
Kelp. Com. Iron Ships. Names of ships in 1770 and I7S9. 

•E have no means of ascertaining when our 
harbour began to be frequented by ships. Of 
the successive nations that obtained possession of Britain 
within the period of authentic history, the Gallio 
colonists of the time of Csesar were in too early a stage 
of civilization to hold any considerable intercourse with 
the rest of the world ; and the Eomans, who succeeded 
them, were of a stock that had always shown itself anti- 
commercial in genius and policy; but as they had so 
long a possession of the Tyne, and the Blyth being at 
so short a distcmce from it, it must have been perfectly 
known to them, and most likely they used it more or 
less during the three hundred years they dwelt upon the 
Tyne. But the Saxons, although they had not been in 
circumstances to turn their skill in navigation to com- 
mercial purposes, had long before the conquest of our 
island been accustomed to roam the seas. From the 
fact that the adjacent places bear names of Saxon origin, 
we may infer the great extent to which the aboriginal 
inhabitants had been driven out of, and despoiled of, 
their lands by their Saxon invaders. Both at the time 
of the invasion and afterwards, when they brought over 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 13d 

their families to settle upon the conquered lands, they 
must have come by sea ; and doubtless at that period 
Blyth harbour would be crowded by the rude Saxon 
ships described by Gibbon. But the Saxons, after their 
settlement in Great Britain, completely neglected the 
sea. It was not till the reign of Alfred, towards the 
end of the ninth century, that the Saxons of England 
ever thought of building a ship, at least for war ; and it 
may be doubted if before that time they had any trading 
vessels of their own. Even for the first four reigns after 
the conquest the notices that have come down to us on 
the subject of the national commerce are still compartively 
few and unimportant. In 1292 the monastery of Tyne- 
mouth laid claim to the wreck of the sea on the Cowpen 
shore of the river. Wreck floating into the harbour in 
an easterly storm would be driven to the Cowpen side. 
From this we may infer that ships were then frequenting 
our coast in such numbers that wrecks had become so 
common as to make it a subject of contention between 
the monks and the bishop as to which had the right to 
appropriate the wreck.* Hutchinson (the county 
historian) quotes an authority of 1346 to show that the 
Bishop of Durham at that time received fourpence for 

♦ The old law or cnstom of England made all wrecks the property of the 
crown. Henry I. mitigated this so that if any human being escaped alive 
out of the ship it would be no wreck ; and his grandson still further ex- 
tended the operation of the humane principle, by decreeing that if either 
man or beast should be found alive in any vessel wrecked upon the coasts 
of England the property should be preserved for the owners, if claimed 
within three months ; but the hardship remained that if neither man nor 
beast were saved the shipowner lost his claim. 

In an account of the disbursements of the Priory of Holy Island we find 
the following items.— 1389-90. Paid Sir Gerard Heron and Henry de 
Bidall for the damage and transgression committed at Holy Island, in the 
time of Prior Bilberfield, upon a wreck belonging to John Fordham, late 
bishop. 1392. The profits of a ship wrecked at Holy Island £7 6s. 



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140 HI8T0R Y OF BL YTH. 

the anchorage of each ship in the water of Blyth, in 
Bedlingtonshire, which for that year amounted to 3s. 4d. 
for ten ships. In 1497 John Spittel, the bishop's bailiff, 
having by favour suflFered John Gosten and John Baw, 
tenants of the Earl of Westmoreland, to occupy the 
royal rights of the bishop for six years, a court was held 
at Bedlington, before Eiohard Danby, to investigate 
this transaction ; when the jurors declared on oath that 
the anchorage and wreckage of sea, and all other regalia 
happening within the lordship, solely belong to the lord 
bishop, as the royal right of his church, and no other. 
And Spearman, from an authority dated 1589, shows 
that the lord bishop leased out the anchorage, beaconage, 
wharfage, ballast quay, the wastes between high and 
low water, and all the wreck of the sea on that coast. 
The terms anchorage, beaconage, wharfage, and ballast 
quay, all show that ships were using the port but without 
indicating to what extent. 

The earliest description of Blyth harbour that I have 
met with is contained in a publication for the use of 
shipmasters : the title page of the book was wanting, so 
that the author's name with the exact date of the 
publication is to me unknown, but from other evidence 
I conclude it to have been published before 1710. The 
author professes to give his account of the harbour from 
personal knowledge though,']strangely enough, he begins 
by stating that Bhth is at the mouth of the river Coquet, 
and the entrance to the place very difficult ; but, he 
says, the fishermen are all pilots and will guide any ship 
in, the channel being all beaconed. He then goes on 
to complain that all former pilot books were strangely 



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SIS TOE Y OF BL YTR. 141 

wrong about Blyth, which might endanger any ship if 
the master is not acquainted, and does not take a pilot, 
for they say expressly there is 6 feet water at the en- 
trance at low tide, whereas I have rode over the entrance 
at low water several times, and not been up to the 
horse's belly. Also they say there is 16 fathoms at high 
water, ajid 6 feet at low water, which cannot be true ; 
and yet the words 16 fathoms are twice repeated. This 
I note for the safety of strangers that may be bound in. 
The truth of the case is this : That at the quay there is 
sixteen feet at the top of the springs and 2 feet to 2 J 
feet at low water, between the beacon and the entrance. 
There is a good quay within the bar for the loading of 
coals, but no town nor any navigation farther up, except 
for small boats, keels, and fishing vessels. Some rocks 
lie east of Blith, about a mile off in the sea ; they are 
seen above water the quarter ebb. They who sail along 
shore ought to be very careful of these rocks. 

In 1756 we find the following description of Blyth 
harbour, in a large folio volume, entitied " Ghreat 
Britain's Coasting Pilot," by Captain Ghrenville Collins, 
hydrographer to the king. " Blythe lieth three nules 
to the north of Seaton Sluice. There are two beacons 
on the sand hills, to the southward of the entrance into 
the river, which leads you in between two beacons, and 
being between the two first or outward beacons, then 
steer away close to the second beacon and have it on the 
larboard side ; and then run up and anchor before 
Blyth Key, where is 16 feet water at spring tides, and 
6 feet at low water ; but between the beacons going in 
is but 2 feet at low water, and 16 feet at high water. 



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142 mSTORT OF BLYTE. 

There are rocks (which have a beacon thereon, on the 
south side going in) shown at low water. There are 
rocks that lie to the east of Blyth, which are above water 
the last quarter ebb, and lie north by east, three miles 
from Beaton Sluice ; of which rodbs you must be careful 
when you sail along shore. The spring tides rise 16 
feet and the neaps 7 feet." The reader will observe 
that Captain CoUins in his directions for entering Blyth 
harbour is not very exact as to the bearings of the 
beacons ; but he agrees with the writer of the former 
directions that the depth of water at spring tides was 
sixteen feet. 

The harbour remained as nature had formed it, for 
many cencuries, with the exception of small quays as 
loading places in the upper part of the river. As we 
have said in a former chapter, there was in 1689 a quay 
at the link end, but none at the south side. We have 
not ascertained when the first quay was erected on this 
side, but the coal quay between the keel and boat docks 
was in existence in 1723 ; and four years afterwards we 
have an account of the building of the quay from the 
keel dock to the flanker, known as the ballast quay. 

Account of Charges of Building a Ballast Quay at 

South Blyth, on account of Bichard Eidley and 

Company, viz : 

£ 8. d. 
1727. Cash paid Mr. Peter Potte, for quarry leave for working 

Btone 21 

Paid John Hindmarsh, for earnest for a1derman*s order . . 10 
Paid Ditto for building 2,510 solid yards, at 

2/4peryard 292 18 5 

Paid Henry Clark for repauing stone keel 8 6 

£393 3 5 



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EI8T0RY OF SLTTS. 143 

1728. Paid John Hindmarsh, for building 800 solid yds. of quay 93 6 8 

1729. Paid John Hindmarsh, for building pilot^s watch-house ..200 

1730. Paid for 400 bricks for the light-house 4 

1720. Paid John Hindmarsh* for building 407 yards of quay at 

West Flanker ... • 47 8 8 

Attempts appear to have been made from time to 
time to lower the shoal in the imder part of the harbour, 
as certain sums for work done at the shoal frequently 
occur. Harbour dues at this time — Is. 4d. per ship. 

In 1765 there is an account for £184 8s. lid., for 
work at what they term the north pier : that would be 
what till recently was known as the "north dyke." For 
several successive years there are accounts for work done 
at the north pier. In the spring of 1767 there occurred 
a very large tide, the sea at the same time running very 
high burst through the link at the north end of the fisher 
houses, and the breach soon became so large by the 
ebbing and flowing of the tide through it, that it became 
a work of great difficulty to repair it, the timber and 
labour expended upon it costing more than £30. The 
light-house was built in 1788, previous to which the 
harbour was lighted by two coal lamps : one was placed 
on the space at the south end of the east side of North- 
umberland street, the other on the bank opposite the 
low light. Except the building of Cowpen Quay in 
1796, and the building of the "new dyke" by Mr. 
Taylor Winship more than forty years ago, nothing was 
done for the advantage of the harbour until the recent 
improvements. 

On the building of the ballast quay at the north side 
ill 1820, the Bishop of Durham brought his action 
against Sir Matthew White Bidley^ Baronet, at the 



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144 mSTOR Y OF BL YTS. 

Newcastle assizes in 1821, to recover the land between 
high and low water mark, on the north side of the river 
Blyth» The matter was compromised: the Bishop 
abandoning his claim, and Sir Matthew agreeing to 
afford to the Bishop and the public certain accommoda- 
tion upon his land for mooring ships and casting balletst 
upon conditions to be settled by reference. Prior to 
1848 Blyth belonged to the port of Newcastle. On the 
6th of April, in that year, by an order of the Lords of 
the Treasury, the port of Shields was constituted out of 
the port of Newcastle. Blyth and Alnmouth were at 
the same time detached from Newcastle — ^the former 
being added to Shields, and the latter to Berwick. 

A meeting was held in Blyth, April 26th, 1852, Mr* 
John Dent in the chair, when it was resolved to construct 
Docks. A company, with a capital of £150,000, in £20 
shares, was soon afterwards formed. Another meeting 
on the subject was held at the Eidley Arms Inn, on the 
29th January following, when the local committee gave 
a flattering account of the position and prospects of the 
scheme. A considerable part of the stock was subscribed 
for at the meeting. The Dock Bill received the royal 
assent July 3rd, 1854, and the first meeting of the 
shareholders was held at the George Inn, Newcastle, on 
Monday, July 31, 1854. On the motion of Mr. Gilbert 
Ward, the following gentlemen were associated with Sir 
M. W. Eidley as directors, viz. : John Hodgson Hinde, 
John Cookson, Edward Potter, and Nicholas Wright, 
esquires. The directors affcerwards held their first 
meeting, when it was arranged that Mr. Abemethy, the 
engineer, should be communicated with, and requested 



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E18T0RY OF BLTTH. 145 

io medt the direotorgi on an early day at Blyth^ to de-* 
termine on the primary steps to be taken in fortherance 
of ahe undertaking. On the 8th September, 1856, iirhild 
the Works were in progress, as a lighter with thirteen 
Inen on board was being moved against the tide, in the 
harbour, it upset, and four men were drowned. 

AN ACCOUNT OF OUTLAY ON PIER AND HARBOUR VTORKS 
UP TO JUNE 80th, 1862. 

£ 8. d. 

jParliamentary and Preliminary Expenses • 4195 19 

StonePier 6906 9 

Timber Pier 31140 19 4 

Wharfinir • 3653 12 2 

Western Breakwater 14776 4 9 

Dredging 16390 10 4 

Contractor removing Blftbop*s Quay 501 19 6 

Formation of New Quay 417 18 5 

Forming and Deepening Ships' Berths 286 / I 

Blyth Harbour and Port Dues • • 12700 

Bishop's Qaav parchase 14i 5 7^ 

Salaries and Miscellaneous Expenses •..••... 1678 2 9 

Engineering and Surveying Expenses 5643 14 11 

Printing, Stationery, Advertising, and Interest 1628 17 1 

Working Plant, Ac 3040 18 4 

£102,107 9 6 
fc— g ggaaaa 

The entire amount expended on oapital account up to 
Dec. 31st, 1868, amounts to £116,130 8s. 2d- 

The new works have not to the present provided 
either the kind or amount of accommodation needed to 
meet the requirements of the steam coal fields And 
the return for the capital invested has been extremely 
disappointing; indeed the revenue will have to be 
doubled before even a moderate rate of interest can be 
paid to the shareholders. A new dredger was procured 
in 1866, which has been kept employed in deepening 
the channeL And up to Dec* 31st, 1868, the sum thua 



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146 tilSTORY OF BLYTS. 

expended amounted to £16,390 10s. 4d. The total 
quantity raised in the year 1868 was 127,205 tons, at 
the cost of 2f d. per ton. It is expected that by the 
autunm of this year an increased depth of 2 feet (or 4 
feet more than the depth shown by the tidal gauge of 
the port) will be obtained throughout the whole channel, 
which will, it is trusted, encourage an increase in the 
trade by means of more screw steamers. In the mean 
time the deepening of the inner part of the harbour is 
carried on with a view of gaining a greater depth of 
water for loaded vessels; for mooring which, and 
enabling them to be removed from the loading spouts 
when prevented from proceeding to sea, two dolphins 
are in course of being erected,* in such manner and 
situation as will afterwards form the conmiencement of 
another section of wharfiilg for shipping spouts. 

The first collector of customs at Blyth was Mr. Eobert 
Jackson.* In 1749, Mr. Gilbert Umfraville, collector of 
customs, died at Blyth,; and in January, 1759, Mr. 
Holmes, comptroller of customs; the latter described as a 
gentleman of general good character and much regretted. 
Mr. Richard Dunn, collector, died in 1804, and was 
succeeded by Mr. Wilkinson. In the Blyth GHeaner, 
April, 1818, it is stated, Mr. William Ooppin is appoint- 
ed comtroller of this port, nee Mr. T. Davis, resigned. 

* There were officers of cnstoms residing at Blyth long before there was 
a custom house. One of these, John King, came to grief through his 
adherence to James II. This John King was son of Henry King, minister 
of Malbarton, in Norfolk, who had been a great sufferer in the tronbulous 
times of Charles I. His son obtained an appointment at Hull as landing 
waiter ; and was afterwards sent to Blyth Nook, where he held office at the 
period of the Revolution of 1688. On being required to take the oath of 
allegiance to William and Mary, he refused, and for which ofEence he was 
deprived of his office. 



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HISTORY OF BLYTB. 147 

The first intimation we have of any kind of trade being 
carried on in thd port of Blyth, is in the article of salt^ 
which most probably would be the first thing attempted 
to be manufactured in this part of the kingdom q& an 
article of export. Beside th6 s&lt pan at the Snook, there 
were salt works at Cowpen before the year 1201, for in 
that year king John granted to the canons of Brinkbum 
"lands between the salt works, and the way which led 
from the Coup-well to the mill in Coupen/' The Coup- 
well was situated a few ridges from the fence of the field 
on the north side of the road, just east of Cowpen gate. 
It was one of the finest springs of water in the Coimtry, 
and continued to flow, and was known by the same name 
till Cowpen north pit was sunk, which operation having 
destroyed the spring, the supply disappeared. The lands 
indicated, are the fields on the north side of the road 
leading from Buck's-hiU to Cowpen, and the site of the 
salt pans would be at Cambois point, or what is now 
known as the high factory, where salt continued to be 
made down to recent times. 

The monastery of Tynemonth,at the dissolution of thd 
greater monasteries in 1639, had £4 10s. for the farm 
of two salt pans, with a qoalpit, leased by the Abbot to 
Eichard Benson, and £4 10s* for the farm of two salt 
pans and a coal pit held by Cuthbert Eobyson at the 
KiDg's pleasure, which were all in Cowpen. In Dr. W* 
Bullien's "Book on Simples," published in London, 1564, 
he fays, "in the north there is salt made attheSheles, 
by Tinmouth castle; the author hereof heis a pan of salt 
on the same water. At Blith, in Northumberland, ^is 
good salt made; and also at Sir John Delaval's pans." 

l2 

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148 HISTORY OF BLTTH. 

These last would be at Hartley Pans. In 1628, the 
sheriff paid into the exchequer, £2 for the rent of a salt 
pan from Thomas Bates, gent., and £3 for two other salt 
pans in Oowpen. There were salt pans where Cowpen 
square now stands. On the Bedlington side of the river, 
we find that in 1670, Edward Milbum had salt pans at 
the estimated rent of £30 per annimi. It is curious to 
find that at that period salt pans were of greater relative 
value than collieries. The same year Charles Eeah held 
a colliery at the rental of £10, and m 1539, while Tyne- 
mouth monastery had a salt pan let at £9 a year, they 
had a colliery and a windmill which together only let 
for £3 a year. In 1598, Robert Widdrington had three 
salt pans in Oowpen, which after his death were charged 
to pay to his widow £100 yearly. At an early date, 
pans at Sleekbum are mentioned; but the chief seat of 
the salt trade on the north side of the river was at 
North Blyth, or as it is now improperly called, the 
High Pans. In 1723, there were only two salt pans at 
Blyth, but shortly after, in 1726, other six were erected^ 
There were eight pans at Blyth, where the present salt 
works are situated; there were four at North Blyth; 
and two where the Folly now stands, then known as 
the sluice bridge pans. We have no means of a^soertain- 
ing what quantity of salt was exported &om the port in 
early times. No doubt the ten ships that used the port 
in 1346 would take away cargoes of salt. In 1730, the 
works altogether produced 1000 tons annually. 

The price of salt and the duty levied thereon, will be 
seen by the following account : — ^Messrs. Moxon, Dr., 
By amount of charges on 80 tons of salt, £116 I60. 4d.| 



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HISTORY OF BLYTS. 149 

By our bill on them for the duty of 80 tons, 
£466 6s. 8d.— Total, £573 3s. Od. 

I have fortunately met with a document which gives 
a detailed statement of the cost of the erection of the six 
salt pans at Blyth in 1726. It reads more like a history 
of the affair than a bill of costs, and brings before us so 
many of the inhabitants of Blyth at that date, together 
with their occupations, as we can nowhere else find. 
This has induced me to give it nearly entire. 



ACCOUNT OF THE COST AND CHARGES OF BUILDING 6 NEW 
SALT PANS, Ac, AT SOUTH BLYTH, 
ON ACCOUNT OF KICHARD RIDLEY, Esq., AND CO., viz.- 

1726. £ 8. d. 
Apl. 29, Paid William Dodds, for making trestles and centres 

for the pans 8 

May 3, Paid William Row, for bnilding a new trunk for ye pans 10 16 2 

Paid Henry Clark, for repairing the stone keel 5 15 4 

„ 6, John Atkinson, for carpenters and labourers at CuUercoats 

in getting the six pans removed and. keeling of them 13 8 3 
„ 19, Paid Edward Twizell, for ferrying over John Adon*s 

horses when led stones for tiie pans 8 18 

July 20, Paid Do. for ferrying over Thomas Aisquith's 

horses when led stones for pans 4 3 

„ 26, John Wilson's account for keeling the pans at CuUercoats 4 16 

Thos. Hall, keel dues for 114 keels of stones for the pans 25 13 
Sept^ Mrs. Harrison, for ale given to the labourers and sundry 
other people, for helping to take the pans out of the 

keels and putting them into the howds 5 4 

Do. for ale for labourers heaving chalk out of ships 1 8 tt 
John Lister, for smith work about the pans •• ..467 

John Atkinson, for sundry petty charges at CuUercoats 17 8 
John Wilson, for making doors, cases, window, cases, 
trestles, and howds; repairing the stone carta, 
barrows, and putting the pans into the howds ..082 

Henry Gleghom, for smith work done at the pans • • 16 1 

James Todrig, for repairing the salt pan sump . . • • 3 3 6 

Thos. Wilson, as per agreement, building two salt pans 50 
John Adon, 20^ days, leading mortar to the sump and 

rubbish from it .. 2 10 

George Cansfield, as per agreement, building two pans. . 50 

James Todrig „ „ .. 50 
John Adon, 176 days, leading stones from quay to masons 17 12 



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150 SIS TOBY OF RLYTH. 

Edward Byer«, for freight for six voyages, with pamps 
and old deals, Ac^ from Cnllercoats, and bricks and 

tiles from Suiderland 85Q 

Paid the labourers for burning lime for the pans ..500 

1727. Do. for throwing chalk out of sandry ships for the pans 2 18 

Feb. 15, Thomas Wilson, for repairing the sump 5 6 

Laboarers for cleaning oat the sump ^10 

John Lister, for smith work done ro stone keel . . • . 19 3 
Thomas Lister, for sawing wood for covering the pans. .538 
James Barnes, for 71^ days leading stones to the pans . . 7 3 
George Cansfield, leading stones for building two pans.. 17 17 
John Adon, Do. „ ... 17 17 

Thomas Aisquith, Do. „ •• 17 17 

April 7, John Adon, 30^ days leading rubbish to the pans ..310 

Joseph Norwood, for a poye for the stone keel . • .,018 

June, John Atkinson, for petty charges at Cullercoats ..073 

Francis Brown, for smith work repairing the six pans . 45 7 2 

Novr. John Wilson, for covering the six pan houses .. .. 15 
Stephen Eobson, for keelmg the H pans from Cullercoats 7 7 
Robert Archer, for cleaning out the six new pans 2 11 

Thomas Wilson, for laying the granary floor with bricks 1 9 10 
Thomas Wilson, for beam-filling the drab holes. » .•• 1 I 8 
Henry Clark, for laying on the stone keel a deck • • 114 6 

For six salt pans from Cullercoats 456 

Foe an old trunk from Do. 6 

Then follow twelve other items, consisting of wood and 

iron, which make the account for the building of 

tlie six pans amount to £986 7 8 

From the foregoing we learn how and when salt making 
at Cullercoats came to a close. 

Then follows a detailed aocoiuit of the cost of building 
six new salters' houses for the six new pans. These 
were the houses at the foot of the ballast hills, known as 
Salters'-row, and that were pulled down only a few 
years since. The cost of their erection was £83 13s. 8d, 

Then again, we have a similar account of the building 
of what they term a salt gamer ; that is the building 
ptjll used for storing salt by Mr. Eobert Bell, It cost, 
in building, £81 9s. 7d. And to complete the establish- 
ment, there is what is called a cam-engine, erected for 
pumping water for the six pans, at the cost of £130 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 161 

Is. 2d., including the purchase of a horse for six guineas, 
and ten shillings for trapping. What became of the 
engine I have hot learnt, but it certainly did not come 
down to the end of the century, for then the salt water 
was all pumped by hand. At the time when all these 
improvements were in progress unfortunately the old 
salt gamer took fire, of which we have the following 
particulars : 

Paid Mrs. Harrison, for ale given to the people that assisted in ex- 
tinguishing the fire in the old garner, £3 Os. lid. 

Paid Stephen Robson and partners, for ten nights* watching the salt 
gamer after the fire, lOs. 

Paid Mrs. Harrison, for ale given to the labourers for assisting carrying 
the burnt salt on board Francis Goland*s ship, the Concord, lis. 6d. 

Paid Mrs. Harrison, for ale given to the carpenters setting up the cupples 
on the old garner, 4s. 

Paid for 39 thraves of thatch for the old gamer, £1 19s. 

Paid James Barnes, two days leading thatch with a draught, 6s. 

Paid Ralph Hart, 13 days drawing the thatch, at lOd., lOs. lOd. 

This was the building that about 46 years since was 
pulled down, and the Wapping houses were built upon 
its site. 

The salt pans at Sleekbum were still in operation in 
1728, for in that year the Plessy coal office supplied 
coals to the amount of £32 8s. to Mr. Nicholas Burden's 
two salt pans at Sleekbum, and Nicholas Burdon in 
return supplies them with four thousand pantiles for 
M 15s. 

The four salt pans at North Blyth were for many 
years under the superintendance of Wm. Ohalloner, at 
the salary of fifteen pounds per annum. His name 
occurs as one of the churchwardens of Bedlington. 

The labour in making salt w£is chiefly done by females ; 
they pumped the water, wheeled the ooals in barrows, 



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152 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

and shovelled the coals in firing the pans. Their wages 
were very small, which they eked out by teazing oakum 
and pilfering small quantities of salt, which with the duty 
then levied upon it made it of considerable value. In 
the disbursements of the salt works in 1737, there is the 
following entry: — " Paid Outhbert Eiohardson, by order 
of commissioners, an account of stole salt, £11 6s." 
Prom this entry we may suppose that thieving had gone 
beyond the ordinary bounds, and had led to an investi- 
gation by the commissioners, which had resulted in the 
above payment being ordered as compensation for loss 
of revenue through the dishonesty of the people engaged 
in the works. As might be expected from such imfem- 
inine employment, the salters were not very lady-like 
in their manners and habits, and were generally looked 
down upon by the public. They bore the character of 
being sad scolds, and to ^^ fight like a Salter" was a 
common adage. 

The salt trade appears to have declined towards the 
end of the last century. The pans at north Blyth and 
the sluice bridge ceased to be used, and were pulled 
down. The manufacture still went on in the town till 
about 1810, when a system of smuggling on a large 
scale was discovered, which led to a disoontinuanoe of 
the trade for a considerable time. They afterwards 
oommenced, but upon a smaller scale, and on a plan 
that excluded female labot^r. 

In 1807 salt was selling at £34 10s. per ton, £30 of 
which was duty. This high duty gave rise to an iUioit 
xnanufacture of salt. In this vicinity, Oowpen Square 
was the principal seat of this trade : it was made in th<i 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 158 

iron pot used in domestic cookery : and there were many 
houses in the square where you might have found at 
any hour, by day or by night, the pot on the fire, and 
the salt in process of manufacture. The repeal of the 
salt duty entirely destroyed the domestic manufacture 
of salt. 

The introduction of the use of Coal, both as an article 
of foreign trade and domestic consumption, is probably 
to be assigned to the reign of Eichard the Second, 
though some have been disposed to carry it farther back. 
The earliest authentic document in which coal is distinctly 
mentioned is an order of Henry III, in 1245, for an 
inquisition into trespasses committed in the royal forests, 
in which inquiry is directed to be made respecting sea 
coal (de earbone maris) found in the forests. This ex- 
pression appears to imply that coals had before this 
been brought to London by sea, probably from New- 
castle. Sea Coal Lane (between Skinner Street and 
Faaringdon Street) is mentioned by that name in a 
charter of the year 1253. Eegulations are laid down 
for the sale of coals, in the statutes of the guild of 
Berwick-on-Tweed, which were established in 1284. 
There is extant a charter of WUliam of AberveU, in 
1291, granting liberty to the monks of Dunfermline, in 
Scotland, to dig coals for their own use, in his lands of 
Pittencrief , but prohibiting them selling'any . It is pro- 
bable, however, that this description of fuel was not as 
yet much used for domestic purposes, for the smoke or 
smell of a coal fire was at first thought to be highly 
noxious. This same year, 1306, (says Maitland, in his 
History of I^ondon) sea coals being very much used in 



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154 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

the suburbs of London, by brewers, dyers, and others, 
requiring great fires, the nobility and gentry resorting 
thither complained thereof to the king as a public 
nuisance, whereby they said the air was infected with a 
noisome smell and a thick cloud, to the great endanger- 
ing of the health of the inhabitants: wherefore a pro- 
clamation was issued strictly forbidding the use of that 
fuel. By the terms of the proclamation we find that it 
was used for the manufacture of glass, iron, bricks, &c. ; 
but those rulers did not forsee that the abimdance of 
coal in England would be the source of her future wealth 
and power. The prejudice against coal fires, however, 
seems in no great length of time to have died away. In 
1325 we find mention made of the exportation of coals 
from Newcastle to France, and, by the end' of the 
fourteenth century, there is reason to believe that an 
active trade was carried on in the conveyance of New- 
castle coal by sea to London and elsewhere. Now, when 
Blyth began to take an active share in this great staple 
trade of the north we have no means of ascertaining. 
The great mineral wealth of Bedlingtonshire appears 
not to have been known in 1186, when Bolden Buke 
was compiled, as it is not once named. Indeed the 
Bishop of Durham at that period used wood in his hall 
at Bedlington, and each of the eighty oxgang in that 
township had to find one cart load of wood for the use 
of the bishop. 

The earliest return which I have seen of the export 
of coal from Blyth is contained in the books of the 
Trinity House of Newcastle, A.D. 1609, and was printed 
by the late Thomas John Taylor in the appendix to hia 



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mSTOR T OF BL YTH. 155 

ArclifiBology of the Coal Trade. From this it appears 
that the export in the first six months of that year were 
24 chaldrons, and in the second six months 383 chaldrons. 
Of this quantity no part was exported to foreign ports. 
But there is no reason to conclude that this was the 
first time that coal had been exported from Blyth. 
There were coal mines belonging to the Priory of Tyne- 
mouth at the time of the dissolution of that monastery 
in 1539, for which they had a rent of three pounds a 
year. There are authentic copies of divers deeds in the 
auditor of lands revenue oflice respecting lands, tene- 
ments, salt works, and coal mines, at Oowpen, leased or 
granted oflf in fee to different persons by Queen Eliza- 
beth. There are many old pit shafts about Cowpen, 
and also in the field between the Buffalo and the mill ; 
and in the field between Cowpen-square and the north 
pit there are evidences of coal having been worked. In 
1598 keels were used in the river Blyth, as by the 
inventory of the effects of Bobert Widdrington in that 
year it is stated that he owned half a coal keel at Cowpen. 
In 1608 Henry Horseley gives by will one-fourth share 
of the coal mines of Bebside and Cowpen, under lease 
from Thomas Harbottle. 

In 1610, Blyth being considered as a member of the 
port of Newcastle, had a duty of one shilling a chaldron 
laid on all coals exported from it; but a petition, 
representing them as places of distinct interests, being 
presented to the House of Commons, the duty was 
ordered " to be laid down and no more taken up." In 
1638, however, we find Newcastle, Blyth, and Berwick, 
paying to the king one shilling per chaldron, custom. 



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156 mSTORY OF BLYTE. 

and to sell them again to the city of London not 
exceeding 17s. the chaldron in summer, and 19s. the 
chaldron in winter. In 1642, during the civil war, the 
Marquis of Newcastle was governor of Newcastle, for 
the king, and stoutly defended it against the Scottish 
army under old General Leslie. This caused the 
parliament to issue an ordinance prohibiting ships from 
bringing coals and salt from Newcastle, Sunderland, 
and Blyth ; but this restriction made fael so scarce in 
London that coal was sold for £4 per chaldron. This 
caused another ordinance to be issued for free trade with, 
the ports of Simderland and Blyth, which made the 
trade in coals and salt very brisk at Blyth while New- 
castle held out against the Soots. 

We cannot trace the steps by which the coal trade 
arrived at the position in which we find it when the 
custom house was established, in 1723. Plessy colliery 
was in the hands of Charles Brandling in 1663. In 
1723 it was in the possession of Bichard Ridley ; and 
as he was a man of both wealth and enterprise he would 
in all probability make the railway by which the coals 
then came to Blyth. In the list of tenants given in the 
advertisement of the Newsham estate in 1723 Wright 
and Spearman are tenants of a staith at £100 a year. 
In 1728 I find that the Eidleys buy of Wright and 
Spearman 14 wagons at £A 10s. each, and a stone keel, 
valued by Robert Wallace at £20 : thus it is certain 
that they had a staith and wagons ; but from whence 
did they bring their coals ? We can only conjecture. 
There are still the remains of a wagon way from 
Davison's mill to the town. It was on this road that 



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HISTORY OF SLYTm 167 

John Clark made his rope- walk. Tradition says that 
ooal had been got somewhere about the mill field, and 
most probably it was thence that Wright and Spearman 
brought coal with their fourteen wagons, to their staith 
at Blyth for shipment. In 1723 Plessy colliery sent to 
Blyth 21,786 chaldrons of coals, the leadage of which, at 
18d. per wagon, cost £1,633 19s., the price to ships 
was 9s. per chaldron ; the whole of these coals would 
not be exported as the salt works and the town would 
have to be supplied. The custom at that time, during 
the intervals when there were no ships to load, was for 
the wagons to continue to bring coals from the pits 
and deposit them on the quay, where they lay till 
wanted, and were then put into the ships with barrows, 
a certain number of barrows counting for a chaldron j 
there are constantly recurring acooimts, for very many 
years, of sums being paid for harrowing coals. This 
continued until about 1788, when a great improvement 
was effected by building what is still known as the 
gtaith; where, when trade was slack, the coals were 
stored up, and when the trade became brisk the 
wagons were put upon the staith, 'and a wonderful 
scene of noise and bustle would take place on the 
prospect of a good sea-tide. The railway was constructed 
of a double line of beech rails, and laid upon oaken 
sleepers. The railway from Plessy continued to be 
made of wood till the road was discontinued in 1812. 
Originally the wagons had wooden wheels, and to 
prevent the wear and tear of the wheels, which were 
extremely expensive to maintain, they were studded 
with nails driven up to the head. I find the following. 



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158 HISTORY OF BLTTR. 

which flhowB their cost : To 80 oak wagon wh^ls at 
7s., £28 ; paid Watt and Brown for piecing 56 wheels 
at 2s. 4d., £6 lOs. 8d. ; paid freight for the Woodcock^ 
Edward Byers, for three voyages bringing wheels and 
sleepers from Newcastle and Amble, £8 15s. Each 
wagon required a horse, and a man to conduct it; 
three jonmies or " gaits," as they were termed, was a 
day's work. There has no change taken place in modem 
times that is more wonderful to a person who recollects 
the mode in which coal was brought from Plessy 50 
years since than to witness the steam horse now dragging 
after it fifty wagons with ease and speed. 

We have an account of the over-sea trade commencing 
in 1723 ; it is certainly much larger than might have 
been expected at that time, and evidently suggests the 
fact that it must have taken some years to have grown 
to the extent we then find it. We copy from the 
Customs book as many of the ships cleared that year as 
wiU give the reader a knowledge of the size of the 
vessels then employed and the ports to whion the coals 
were exported. 

In 1723, 78 vessels cleared with coals for foreign 
ports ; in 1733, 296 cleared coastwise ; of these latter 
115 went to London and 127 to Lynn. In 1739, 449 
ships cleared coastwise and only 36 over-sea. There 
was a tax of 68. upon coal exported to foreign ports, 
which was equally divided between the " old subsidy " 
and the " new duty." In 1757, in addition to the for- 
mer duties, there is another impost on coal sent over-sea. 
The first cargo coming under the new impost is that of 
a foreign vessel, the Sope^ Jovgen Petterson, for Stav-^ 



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HISTORY OF BLYTE. 159 

enger, with 26 chaldrons, for which, as a foreign bottom, 
the duties amount to £27 4s*, viz: old subsidy £15 12s.; 
new duty £6 10s* ; new additional duty £5 4s. ; fully 
200 per cent, on the value of the coals. If the extra 
duty was imposed for the purpose of revenue, it was an 
utter failure, for from this time the foreign coal trade 
from Blyth is all but nil — -and continued so tiU the end 
of the war in 1815. 

In the last century coal appears to have been a 
favourite article with Chancellors of the Exchequer from 
which to extract revenue. In 1787 aU former duties 
are merged in to one of 15s. 6d* per chaldron. In 1795 
an additional duty of 4s. 6d. is put on ; in 1796 another 
shilling is added; in 1797 another shilling is again 
added, making 22s. per chaldron : but still the increase 
did not cease. We give an example to show to what 
an enormous amount this tax had grown. In August, 
1804, the Lady Ridley ^ William Smith master, cleared 
for Tonning with 62 chaldrons of coals, value £65, on 
which was paid £90 10s. 6d. consolidated customs duty, 
with 13s. new duty ; and for tonnage duty on 175 tons 
there was paid £8 15s. con. duty and £8 15s. new duty, 
making in aU £108 13s. 6d. on 62 chaldrons. 

AN ACCOUNT OF SHIPS CLEARED AND GOODS EXPORTED 
1723.] OVER-SEA AT BLYTH NOOK. 

Georgedc Nathaniel Henry Bradley Rotterdam ...31 chs.coal0 

Isabella William Hoggitt .... Hamburgh . . 35 „ 

Content Benjamin Brvan .... Do. ..20 „ 

Rachael and Jane Jacob Lee, of Blyth ...Eastrice 20 „ 

Happy Return John Jackson Rotterdam . . • .36 „ 

William William Storicker Amsterdam . . 20 „ 

Berwick Merchant John Bouges Do. . . 25 „ 

Durham James Stonehouse .... Hamburgh . . 52 „ 

Elizabeth Benjamin Langley .... Amsterdam . . 15 „ 

Reserve ...•» Edward Leake • Rotterdam. ...49 „ 



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160 



MlSTOltr OF BLYTB. 



Maig^ret *«.«*««.«*««.«Thoiila0 Wilkinsoil ..Botterdsiil . 

IVyal ...*«* •••..William Marshall Hamburgh 

Warwick ••.• Gay Btttler Amsterdam 

Meriah John Lewia Hamburgh 

Elizabeth and Jane . • Thomas Anderson • • . Botteidam . . 

tx>;ral Friendship ....Alexander Bonner. • • .Amsterdam 

Elizabeth and Catherine . . Richard Hawkin . • . • Do. 

Anthony of Lynn Nathaniel Camaby • • Rotterdam 

Truelove ....* Robert Lockey Hamburgh 

Farmer's Adrenture Robert Brown Do. 

Arnold and Martin . . . .^.John Jackaon Dort 

Thomas and Sarah ..C. Watson Rotterdam.. 

Thomas and Catherine . . Wilkin Boyington .... Do. 

Providence Stephen Daveson .«.. Do. 

Kewbeginn ..William Cowper ....Amsterdam 

Joseph and Mary , Joseph Jackson Rotterdam . • 

Richard and Esther Thomas Paine Amsterdam 

Laurel ...John Jackson .«.. Do. 

Hanover John White Bremen ..., 

Success !•«. John Nicholson Rotterdam., 

Friend's Adventure Edward H ill Hamburgh 

Adventure .Robert Brown Do. 

Edmund and Sarah Henry Ma^ .•••....Skeedam .. 

Providence John Dickmson Do. 

Elizabeth Nathaniel Foot ••. . 



...U 

• .18 
..48 
..12 
..2& 
.. 8 
..14 
..12 
..17 
..20 
..28 

• .34 
..dO 
...43 
..32 
..31 
..26 
...40 
..23 
..18 
..15 
..28 
..20 



AN ACCOUNT OF SHIPS CLEARED, AND GOODS EXPORTED 
1733.J COASTWISE, FROM BLYTH-NOOK. 

BONDSMEN. 

John Maltby Industry, 8carbro\ Isaac Wilson .... London . . 55 chs.cla « 

Geo. Easterby Ann and Murv, Welle, Robert Base . . Wells... 34 „ 

Do. Endeavour, Whitby, Ben. Lazenby, 35 doz. calf 

skins in hair ..London*. 88 ^ 

Do. Blessing, Scarbro\ Chr. Dickinson .... Lynn . . 62 „ 

Ben. Lazenby Industry, Clay, Thomas Seams .... Blackney . . 16 „ 
James Barnes Simon and Robert, Lowestoft, James Landi- 

field London. ,48 „ 

Geo. Easterby Skeedam Mercht, Scarbro', T. Covert . . Lynn. .86 „ 

Do. Concord, Scarbro', 2ebedee Wood Lynn.. 62 „ 

John Wilson Blvth, Blyth, Jordan Sturdy Whitby, . 13 „ 

James Barnes John k Robert, Whitbv, R. Robson.. London.. 85 „ 

Wm. Ballemy Resignation, Wells, Jonn Springold. .London.. 86 „ 

John Springold Prudent Mary, William Bellamy .. .Lynn.. 44 „ 
Wm. Alien Thomas k Aiin, Rochester, Arthur Manclarke, 

300 Quarters of oats London . . 

Geo. Easterby Woodcock, Blyth, Edwd. Byers, jun., Whitby... 8 „ 

James Barnes Laurel, Lynn, John Jackson Lynn . . 48 ^ 

Geo. Easterby Nightingale, Scarbro', John Robinson . . Lynn . . 80 „ 

James Barnes Providence, Scarbro\ John Sta)henson,L3mn.. 52 „ 

Do. Hopewell, Bridlington, Geo, Brown, BridltQ..43 „ 



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HISTORY OF BLTTE. 



161 



James Barnes St. Michael, Tarmoath, Hugh Debbig, Tai'm...26 cli8.cl8. 

Geo. Easterby Sarah, Newcastle, John Brown Lynn . . 38 „ 

Do. Elizabeth, London, Jona. Arrowsmith, Londn.. 56 „ 

James Barnes Jacob & James, Blytb, Jacob Lee, jun., 30 tons 

of salt Lynn.. 12 „ 

Wm. Bellamy Happy Retam, Scarbro', John Maltby, Lynn.. 52 „ 

Do. Providence, Lynn, John Burleigh Lynn. ..42 „ 

Hugh Debbeig Thomas, Yarmouth, Joseph Harris,. ..Yarmth... 60 „ 
Geo. Easterby Ann dc Cecilly, London, George Steel, 30O qrs. 

of oats London . . 

Kobert Sprat Robert and, John. Lowestoft, John Thomas, 85 

tons of salt London.. 

Geo. Easterby Rose in June, Blyth, Ed. Byers, sen., Whitby... 8 ,, 

Joseph Kelly Mayflower, Blyth, James Hall Hartlepool.. 8 „ 

Wm. Atkinson Iioyal Jane, Lynn, William Vincent .... Lvun . . 36 „ 
Joseph Kelly Mayflower, Blyth, Charles Twizell.. Whitby.. 8 „ 
Wm. Storey Mackerel, Shields, Jas. Nicholson, 260 qrs. oats, 

SOchas. grindstns., 80 firkins butr., London. 
J. Woodhonse Nighungale, Shields, Peter Nelson, 100 tons of 

salt —London.. 2 :, 

Peter Nelson Duke of Cornwall, London, 20 firkins of batter, 

139 tons of salt London. . 

Geo. Easterby Rachael and Jane, Blyth, James Lee, London. .40 „ 

At this early period ships had to take part of their 
cargo at sea, from keels. In 1728, there is paid to 
Henry Clark, for carpenter work done to the four keels, 
£15 2s. 4d. ; and farther on in the same year there is 
paid for two new keels, cost per tradesmen's note, £183 
6s. 4^d. ; and also a sum paid to Joseph Dove for bring- 
ing two new keels from Newcastle. A custom at this 
time prevailed, of treating the shipmasters loading coals 
in the port ; this we learn by entries like the following,: 
Paid Mrs. Harrison, for sundry accoimts for entertaining 
masters, from Nov. 11th, 1727, to Nov. 11th, 1728, 
£107 10s. 8d. Mrs. Harrison had an account of this 
kind year affcer year, for many years ; in 1733 it 
amounts to £126 lis. 3d. Nov. 10th, 1738, paid fees 
and expenses in procuring a clause in the late coal act, 
for allowing coals to be shipped in wagons. In 1767, 

M 



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162 



HISTORY OF BLTTm 



allowed Capt. Bobert Eockwood, to try an experiment 
of his loading coals, £3 18s. 6d. 

Cowpen Colliery commenced imder the anspices of 
Messrs. Morrison, Clark, Snrtees, and Howe. The first 
attempt to find coal was made in April, 1794, and was 
sent to market in November, 1795. Plessy colliery was 
discontinued in the spring of 1813. Netherton colliery 
commenced shipping on the 25th December, 1819, on 
which day the Fruserj sloop, sailed with the first cargo. 
A valuable seam was won at Bebside, and on the 12th 
of May, 1855, the first cargo of coals was shipped at 
Blyth, amid some rejoicings. 

Want of space prevents our giving an annual statement 
of the exports; we, however, present one at such intervals 
as will sufficiently mark the progress our coal trade has 
made. In the first four years the amount is in chal- 
drons, and includes the export from Hartley ; in the 
following years it is in tons, and is from the port of 
Blyth alone. 



r«an. 


No. of 
Sliips. 


Begister 
Tonnage. 


Coastwise. 

CHAS. 


Foreign. 

CHAS. 


1776 
1796 
1816 
1826 






32,000 
29,273 
49,417 
51,533 

TONS. 


nil- 

411 
771 

1,395 

TONS. 


1856 
1857 
1858 
1859 
1860 
1861 


1067 
1214 
1205 
1138 
1130 
1444 


111,943 

136,336 , 

146,159 

138,174 

136,399 

179,761 


96,459 
94,382 
115,901 
109,901 
109,428 
133,065 


76,487 
105,760 
108,286 
109,962 
115,023 
147,440 



1861 was an exceptionally brisk year in the coal trade, 
no subsequent yeax has at all approached to it. In 



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msToit r of bl tts. lea 

1868 there were 240,542 tons of coals exported, in 1,184 
ships of 172,769 register tonnage. 

While coal and salt have always been the chief 
articles of export, other branches of trade hove been 
prosecuted. Kelp was made on the links, between 
Camboise and the link-end, two hundred yeafs ago, and 
continued to be manufactured there till recent times. 
In 1733, 16 tons of kelp are sent to Whitby ; there are 
minor articles exported from time to time, and at one 
period a considerable quantity of epsom salts; at another 
time several tons of British stript tobacco stalks are sent 
to London. Agricultural produce for many years was 
sent in considerable quantities to London. North Blyth 
was the place of shipment for com, &c., where the gran- 
aries were situated, and to which the com was brought 
on pack-horses down to the middle of the last century. 
In 1742 the exports to London were 11,225 quarters of 
oats, 1,647 quarters of wheat, 4,451 firkins of butter, 
94 casks of British cured cod fish, and a considerable 
quantity of English wrought iron, which had been 
manufactured at what Was then called the Bedlington 
furnace. The com trade dwindled down till towards 
the close of the century, when it ceased. On the de- 
cline of the salt and com trades at North Blyth, an 
efibrt was made to establish a manufactory of pottery, 
which, after a short existence, failed. The old slitting 
mills at Bedlington were advertised in the Newcastle 
Courant in 1750 and 1757, to be sold, together with 
shops for about forty nailers. This concern came into 
the hands of the Malings, of Sunderland, but they were 
not Buooessfiil in business. Messrs. Hawks and Co., of 

m2 

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164 HISTORY OF BLTTE. 

Gtkte&head) oflterwards extended and carried on these 
works till after the beginning of the present century ; 
they were aft;erwards carried on for nearly half a century 
by Messrs, Biddulph, Gordon, and Co. ; the works gave 
employment to a great number of workmen, and large 
quantities of manufactured iron were conveyed down 
tiie river in lighters, and shipped at Blyth. 

About thirty years ago Blyth seemed in a fair way 
of getting a large and important manu&cture perman- 
ently established. An enterprising firm, with capital 
at command, began the manu&cture of alkali. Their 
first factory was erected at the low quay, the concern 
was under the management of Mr. Leighton, an emin- 
ent manufacturing chemist ; they afterwards built what 
was termed the high factory, at Camboise point, where 
they made the vitriol, which they used in immense quan- 
tities in producing the chemicals they sent to market. 
Unfortunately the concern which promised to be so 
great a benefit to the town, failed to remunerate the 
spirited proprietors, who, after losing a great amount of 
capital, had to abandon the enterprise. After this, 
Mr. Bichard Wilson got a patent for making chimney- 
pieces, &c., out of clay, in imitation of marble; buildings 
were erected in which to conduct the manufacture, but 
after a trial the project did not succeed. 

In 1723, there is only one vessel belonging to Blyth 
engaged iu the foreign trade, the Rachael and Jane, 
Jacob Lee master and owner ; he lived at North Blyth, 
and had three sons, who became masters ; his son Jacob 
was a pilot in 1760 ; the family have a tomb-stone in 
Horton ohurch-yaid. There might be other Blyth ve«h 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 166 

eels in the coasting trade that year, but they must have 
been few in number, and small in size, as the reader 
may see by looking over the list we have given of ships 
clearing coastwise in 1783. At that date Jacob Lee 
has a second vessel, the Jacob and James^ of which his 
son Jacob is master. Then there is the Blythy Wood^ 
cocky Rose in JunCy Mayflower y and the Rachael and Jane 
of 1723 replaced by a new one of the same name, of 40 
chaldrons, of which James Lee is master; and 98 
chaldrons is the burthen of the shipping of the port of 
Blyth-nook at that date. In 1733 the Ann is added to 
the list, and in 1742 there is another vessel, the Jane^ 
Christopher Jubb master. In 1750 all these vessels 
have disappeared, and in that year only one Blyth ship^ 
clears at the custom house, the Olive Branchy 42 chal* 
drone, William Kirkup master. In 1754 there is an 
Elizahethy 18 chaldrons, and the next year a Susannah, 
47 chaldrons. So slowly had shipping progressed, that 
up to 1761 there were only three belonging to the port* 
There were several Lynn vessels which took cargoes tO 
their own port, and the rest of the carrying trade wad 
done chiefly by ships belonging to Whitby and Soarbro'* 
George Marshall and Edmund Hannay each have a ship 
in 1761, and in the next nine years thirteen other shipd 
are added to the list. 

We give the following account of a ship's expenses of 
cargo of coals, &c., in 1792. It is to be borne in mind 
that at that time, and long afterwards, the shipowner 
was merchant as well; he bought the coals, and thd 
difference between the prices obtained for his cargo and 
that which he gave for it was the amount of his Meght. 



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166 



HISTORY OF BLYTH. 



MESSRS. SHOTTON AND POTTS, ON ACCOUNT OP THE 
MERCURY, OF BLYTH. 

For 95§ chaldrons of coals 81 8 8 

Ballast and Harbour Dues 14 

Clearing at the Custom House 4 15 

Trimming .. 18 

Pilotage 1 6 6 

Loading 55 wagons from the staith 13 9 

Foy Boats assisting ship to sea 2 2 



NAMES OP VESSELS BELONGING TO THE PORT OF BLYTH, 1770. 



SHIPS. 


OWNKRS. 


CHAS 


MASTERS. 


John and Jane ■ 

John and Martha . . . 

Mary 

Charming Sally 

Mary 

Success 

Thomas and Ann .... 
James and Mary .... 
Fanny • 


George Marshall .... 

£. Hannay 

Do. 

E. Hannay 

Francis VVright .... 


IJO 
61 

109 
78 
42 
52 
23 
95 
55 
52 

100 
67 
19 
48 

m 


James Wood 

John Hannay 
William Harrison 
George Huntley 
Edward Twizell 
Thomas Potts 
Richard Wheatley 
Francis Wrii^ht 
Charles Twizell 
Thomas Twizell 
Richard Wright 
John Watts 
John Toderig 
Edward Fairfoot 


Mollj^ 


Nancy ...., 

Adventure ...>...■.. 


Good Intent 

John .. ........... 


Britain, of Bedlington. 


LIST OP VESSELS IN 1789. | 


Hope 


Edmund Hannay. . . . 

Do. 

Do. 

Do. 

Edward Watts 

William Harrison ... 

John Clark 

Do 

Jane Marshall 

Mk.& John Marshall 

John Annet 

Do 

R. and T. Hodgson . . 
Shotton and Potts . . 

John Watts .«, 

Robert Stoker 

Edward Wright .... 
Thomas Gibson .... 
James Ramsay. . , . . . 

John Storey 

George Potts 

R. Smith, PJessy.... 
Robert Brig^s 


116 
106 
137 
36 
101 
108 
184 
92 
1-20 
120 
22 
31 
72 
102 
73 
94 
56 
48 
92 
80 
32 
22 
93 


Matthew Wilson 
William Collier 
William Russell 
William Taylor 
Robert Urwin 
Henry Patton 
John 'Swinburne 
William Patterson 
Mark Marshall 
John Duncan 
George Lough 

Joseph Hodgson 
Benjamin Brown 
Thomas Taylor 
Vincent Elsworth 
Edward Wright 
Thomas Gibson 
John Sibbet 
Edward Robinson 
Edward Cowell 
Henr\' Smart 
Henry Taylor 


Chancellor .....•••.. 


Holderness ..••....•. 
John ...•••■•.••.•• 


Edward and Mary . . 
William and Frances 

Polly 

George and Jane .... 
Caledonia .«■.«■.... 


Constant Ann 

John and Betsy 

Thomas and Alice. . . . 
Memirv 


Mav6ower >.... 


.Tames and Mary .... 
Fanny ....••.••« 


Fortune ...•.••• .... 


Ceres 

Charming Sally 

Doroth V .......... 


John 


Robert and Mareraret 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 



167 



BLTTH SHIPS IN 1807, OWNERS' NAMES, AND BUBTHEN IN 
CHALDRONS. 



Agenoria .... 

Albion 

Alert 


..50 James Black 
. 88 Ed. Robinson 
.37 M.(fe J. Marshall 
..60 John Short 


Industry 64 Geo. Morrison 

James k Mary 40 George Lough 

Lively 136 E. Watts 

Minerva 48 John Morrison 

Mercury 95 Milburn 

Marys 27 Wm Wilson 

Manning .... 70 John Clark 
Margt.&Ann.. 99 Heppel 

Nautilus 124 J.AM.Marshall 

Nautilus 66 Colvin 

Omnium 126 John Clark 

Providence .... 58 Bedlington 

Providence 64 Wm. Patterson 

Ruby 18 E. Poad 

Speedwell .... 38 John Sibbet 

Swan 16 E. Watts 

Salamander 44 H. Debord 

Surprise 44 Henry Taylor 
Thomas <fe Alice 72 R. Hodgson . 
Three Brothers 88 C. Jobsoa 
Three Sisters . . 88 C. Jobson 
Wnnsbeck .... 86 John Clark 

William 34 John Clark 

William 66 Henrv Taylor 

Walker 150 Matw. Wilson 

Westmoreland 160 Matw. Wilson 


Anna ....... . ■ 


Adventure . . 
Ark 


,.63 William Smith 
. . 67 John Clark 


Bickford .... 
Benson .. .. 
Brothers .... 
Cevlon ...*.. 


.'..61 Wm, Wilson 
..40 John Gray 
..17 Ed. Marshall 
..52 Thos. Wilson 


Claude 


..47 Thomas Bury 


Commerce 

Charles 


. 65 E. Watts 
. -8fi John Clark 


Ceres 40 Gilbt. Gledston 

Edmund . a. ... 86 George Storey 

P^clipse 92 J. & M.Marshall 

Eleanor 60 Jno. Swinburne 

Eagle 32 

EriendsEndeavor32 Thos. Wilson 
Good Intent . 95 Heppel 
Gimini 80 John Clark 


Hesperus 134 John Clark 

Hope 116 Milburn 

Jane 44 Geo. Mattbon 

Isabella 64 Avnsley 

John and Betsy 38 Thos. Wilson 
John 88 John Clark 



In 1817, there were 67 vessels insured in two clubs, 
with a capital of £60,000; in 1830, there were 79 vessels 
insured to the amount of £88,000 ; in October, 1862, there 
were 120 ships, 40 of which are sheathed with either 
• copper, yellow metal, or zinc, and valued at £201,100 — 
a wonderful advance upon the one little ship, the Olive 
Branch, of 1750. In 1869, the sailing vessels registered 
by Blyth owners were 172, of 44,620 tons, and of the 
value of £334,500, exclusive of steam vessels. 



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CHAPTER X 

Phcenix Friendly Society. Mechanics' lostitiite. John Storey, CapL 
Bergeo. Institntions, Ac. Borough of Moipeth. Extinct Sumamesi. 
Wages. Allowance. Bates. 

If^^HERE have been several Benefit Societies instituted 
i&£ in the town, two that were begun at the Nag's 
Head, at the beginning of the present century, were of 
considerable promise — ^the one for seamen, the other for 
tradesmen — ^but both were brought to a premature end, 
after continuing about thirty years ; but one that began 
at a later period has attained so high a position by its 
magnitude and usefulness, that it deserves special notice 
and commendation. The Phoenix Society was instituted 
in 1821 ; it is composed of Seamen, and it designs to 
provide for the members in the time of sickness and 
old age, when they lose their clothing through shipwreck, 
besides an annuity to their widows in case of death. 
We give a view of the society at intervals of ten years 
from its commencement : — 



DATS. 


KO. OF 


PAID TO 


PAID FOE 


PAID FOR 


PAID FOB 


BUPKBAN- 

N HATED 
MEMBERS. 


MEMB. 


WIDOWS. 


SICKNESS. 




DEATHS. 






£ s. d. 


£ S. d. 


£ s. d. 


£ S. d. 


£ 8. d. 


1S31 


104 


S9 


37 1 


11 18 


2 6 




1841 


208 


84 


41 14 


«0 7 7 


85 12 




1851 


870 


247 19 


224 5 


49 2 8 


68 16 




1861 


501 


413 15 


170 6 


110 


&7 


338 11 2 



By the above figures it will be seen that the society 
now numbers 500 members, and pays annually about the 
sum of £1,000 to the superannuated and sick members, 
widows, &o., and has a capital of £7.000. It confers 



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HISTORY OF BLTTH. 169 

great credit on the seamen of Blyth, that they should 
have raised and sustained so noble an Institution out of 
wages that axe far from being large. Any of our 
wealthy townsmen who may be seeking a worthy object 
on which to bestow £1,000, either by a present gift or a 
bequest at death, may with the fuUest confidence make 
choice of the Phoenix Society. 

It is to be regretted that no one has as yet acted upon 
the above suggestion, seeing that the society has arrived 
at a critical period in its history, when help is much 
needed. But it is to be hoped that by a thorough 
remodelling of this institution, before it be too late, means 
will be found by which it may be safely tided over 
the dangers that at present surround it, and that it may 
yet cause many a widow's heart to sing for joy. 

In 1847 the Mechanics' Institute was established, and 
like many other societies of a similar kind, after the 
novelty of its inauguration had passed away, it struggled 
on in an ebb and flow style until 1857. At that time it 
became apparent to the committee that the chief hind- 
rance to its success was the want of accommodation for 
conducting the operations of the Institute — ^having only 
one room to serve all the purposes of reading, library, 
&c. It was resolved to lay the position of the Institute 
before Sir M. W. Eidley, Bart., who generously offered 
to make at his own cost, such alterations and improve- 
menta in the old inn formerly known as the "Phoenix,'* 
as would fit it for the accommodation of the society. 
These alterations having been completed, the rooms 
were formally opened in March 1858, by a public Din- 
ner, at which Sir M. W. Ridley presided; and from this 



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170 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

time the Institute may be said to have entered upon a 
new state of existence, for it has prospered year by year 
ever since, and now takes ranks among the most healthy 
and nseftd in the county. It has a large lecture room, 
reading room, and library room; numbers 250 members; 
and the library consists of more than 2000 volumes. 
Mr. John Storey was a native of Blyth, and a mem- 
ber of an old Northumbrian family, which for several 
generations were noted for their skill as bone-setters — ^a 
profession, which, together with that of brewer, Mr. 
Storey's father followed in Blyth for many years. There 
used to be in the public mind great distrust as to the 
competency of the regular medical practitioner in the 
bone-setting; department of his profession; and the 
services of the bone-setter were generally sought for in 
the case of a dislocated joint or a broken bone. Mr. 
Storey was one of Hutchinson's best scholars ; he was 
afterwards taught Latin and French by the Eev. Eobt. 
Greenwood, and continued diligently to increase his 
stock of general information through life. He engaged 
in the honourable but laborious occupation of instructor 
of youth, some time at Haxby Hall, Yorkshire, and 
afterwards for several years in Newcastle. But amid 
many works testifying to his unremitting assiduity and 
ardour in his profession, he still found leisure to expa- 
tiate in the more liberal walks of literature and science. 
His ingenuity was displayed in the construction of op- 
tical instruments, which we are given to understand 
were considered as marvels of accuracy and polish; and 
also in a peculiar mode of painting on glass: but it was 
especially as a botanist that he was pre-eminentlj 



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HISTORY OF BLYTH. 171 

distinguished. We believe he could boast of one of the 
largest collection of British Plants; and he enjoyed the 
correspondence and friendship of the principal of those 
who pursue this branch of scientific inquiry, both of this 
country and the continent. As secretary, for many years 
from its commencement, of the "Tyneside Naturalists' 
Field Club," his able services fever most cheerfully 
accorded) in correcting and superintending through the 
press the many valuable scientific papers which have 
emanated from that local scientific association, we are 
warranted in saying were not a little instrumental in 
securing that consideration they enjoy ; and unobtrusive 
as were these labours, they were no less deserving of the 
recognition of the society, and of the scientific friends, 
whose works, by his care and intelligence, were so credit- 
ably introduced to the world. 

Captain W. C. Bergen has attained considerable 
celebrity by his ingenious construction of the " Great 
Circle Chart," the value of which consists in the rapidity 
and accuracy with which the Grreat Circle track can be 
ascertained, and transferred to one of Mercator's projec- 
tions, by merely noting the latitude of the Ghreat Circle 
where it crosses given lines. These charts are strongly 
recommended by the highest Nautical authorities — 
G. B. Airey, Esq. F.E.A.S.,Astronomer Eoyal, writes: — 
" I like them exceedingly well, and am only surprised 
that the principle should not [have been promulgated 
before." A. de Morgan, Esq., F.E,A.S., writes : — " I 
am, with Mr. Airey, surprised that the principle should 
never have been started before, I certainly never thought 
of it, nor heard of it, though I once wrote a volume on 



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172 BISTORT OF BLTTU. 

the Qnomonio Projection, and consulted all that came in 
my way," W. B. Woolhonse, Esq., F.E.A.S., writes : — 
** The Processes are correct in principle and simple in 
their application, and will enable the seaman, in direct- 
ing his Ghreat Circle course to dispense with much 
tedious computation." These are but a tithe of the 
testimonials to the great value of Captain Bergen's 
system, given by gentlemen equally competent with 
those quoted. 

Blythis no longer confined within the limits of the Nook, 
having spread far into the adjoining township of Cowpen ; 
and the new portion of the town has greatly out-grown 
the older one. The old town still continues to be the 
chief seat of business, and since a better tenure for build- 
ing sites has been offered, a considerable number of a 
better class of houses have been built ; but the Cowpen 
side keeps advancing more rapidly, and of late the best 
public buildings of the town have been erected there. 
The town being situate in different townships, is a dis- 
advantage, as relates to the management of local business, 
both have adopted the Local Government Act of 1858 
— ^the South Blyth District was formed in Novem- 
ber, 1862, and that of Cowpen in July, 1864. It is to 
be hoped that a population, whose pursuits and interests 
are identical, and who are only separated by a line that 
forms the division of two parishes, will be brought to 
see that measures, to promote the best interests of the 
community, could be most efficiently conducted by a 
local authority, representing the entire town. 

The growing importance of the town and port 
has been acknowledged, by the legislature oonfeixiug 



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SISTORY OF BLYTH. 



173 



the borough francliise upon the inhabitants. The 
following is the Boundary Commissioners' Report 
which led to Blyth being annexed to the borough of 
Morpeth : — 

"The port of Blyth (under which is included the 
rapidly growing places called Cowpen Quay and 
Waterloo), is situate in the two townships of Cowpen, 
and Blyth with Newsham, which adjoins the south of 
the parish of Bedlington. The area of the township of 
Cowpen is 1,737 acres, and that of Blyth and Newsham 
is 1,226 acres. A considerable quantity of coal is 
shipped at the port of Blyth, which is capable of ex- 
tensive improvements, so as to admit of a great increase 
of business ; and it is probable that these improvements- 
will, at no distant period, be carried out. The followiQg 
statistics have been obtained relative to the townships of 
Cowpen and Blyth and Newsham : 



TOWNSHIPS. 


POPULATION. 


Blyth 

Cowpen 


IS01. 


1811. 


1821. 


1831. 


1841. 


1851. 


1861. 


1,170 
858 


1,622 
1,095 


1,805 
1,765 


1,769 
2,081 


1,921 
2,464 


2,584 
4,045 


3,901 
6,292 


2,023 


2,617 


3,570 


3,850 


4,485 


6,621 


9,193 



" Many of the inhabitants of the populous part of the 
Cowpen township are freeholders ; and a large number 
of houses are in course of erection. Buildings aie 
also increasing to some extent in the town of Blyth 
proper, which is only divided from Cowpen by a small 
inlet oaUed the dote. The population of both townships 



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174 BISTORT OF SLTTS. 

is essentially urban, and has for some time been, and 
now is, rapidly increasing. 

" The area of the two townships is not large, compared 
with that of the existing borough, and the Commissioners 
are of opinion, that the inhabitants of the port of Blyth 
have such a present and prospective community of in- 
terest with the Parliamentary Borough, as to justify the 
addition of their district to it. There is no convenient 
boundary except that of the two townships, and the 
boimdaries of both are continuous, and are well defined. 

" The commissioners recommend, therefore, that the 
borough of Morpeth should consist of the present borough 
of Morpeth, and the townships of Cowpen, and Blyth 
and Newsham." 

The recommendation of the commissioners was ap- 
proved by Parliament, and Blyth now forms a part of 
the borough of Morpeth. At the first registration, the 
number of voters for Blyth was 539, viz : — Cowpen 373, 
Blyth and Newsham 166. 

The writer's long and intimate acquaintance with 
Blyth and its people has furnished him with data which 
shows to what a large extent the extinction of surnames 
has taken place in the town during the present century. 
It has long been matter of observation how the great 
landed families become extinct. Thus the names of oux 
great coimty families — ^Umfraviller, Morley, Yescy, 
Bolam, Bertram, Delaval, &c. — ^have aU passed away. 
But that the same process has been going on among the 
plebeian ranks, has not been observed to the same 
extent. It is certainly a curious fact that while the 
number of the general population is constantly on the 



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HISTORY OF BLTTH. 



175 



increase, there is an equally constant diminution of 
Surnames going on. Subjoined is a list of the names of 
169 families, who have resided in the town within the 
last eighty years, none of whom have a single male re- 
presentative at the present time ; of these, I give more 
than 140 from my own personal knowledge ; the others 
from trustworthy sources, chiefly John Eobinson, and 
my late friend John Watts, with both of whom I have 
frequently discussed this subject — ^they themselves also 
being the last male represensatives of their respective 
families. In several cases where the name is a common 
one, there have been two, three, four or five householders 
of the same name, none of whom have left a male 
descendant. 



Adon 


Christian 


Anderson 


Clark 


Annett 


Collier 


Arkle 


CoweU 


Atkinson 


Crowe 


Bambro 


Crozier 


Barron 


Crummy 


Barnes 


Davis 


Bates 


Davison 


Blacket 


Davey 


Bower 


Debord 


Brown 


Dixon 


Brigga 


DobinRon 


Bulmer 


Dove 


Burn 


Dunn 


Bullock 


Dummond 


Byers 


Easterby 


Bruce 


Elder 


Callander 


Elsworth 


Caithness 


Elliott 


Cansfied 


Fairbaim 


Carse 


Falcua 


Carr 


Fairfoot 


Cauther 


Fenkle 


Chapman 


Forster 


Cockerill 


Ferguson 


Cooley 


Forsyth 


Corby 


Gibson 



Giles 


Ingram 


Gore 


Jubb 


Gleghom 


Kirsop 


Gray 


Laing 


Green 


Lamb 


Greenwood 


Laws 


Hart 


Lee 


Hall 


Lilbum 


Hannay 


Lockhart 


Handiside 


Marshal 


Harrison 


MafRn 


H epple 


Maflin 


Heckles 


Metcalf 


Henderson 


Middleton 


Heron 


Moore 


Hills 


Morrison 


Hindmarsh 


Moss 


Hodgson 
Holdridge 


Murray 


Nazeby 


Hopper 


Nesbit 


Hudson 


>Jewton 


Huggins 


Northover 


Hunt 


Ogle 


Hunter 


Park 


Huntley 


Paton 


Humble 


Pattison 


Hutchinson 


Potts 


Humt 


Polwart 


Di 


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176 



HISTORY OF BLTTS. 



Philips 


Sadler 


Stoker 


Pringle 


Sardy 


Suthern 


Pearson 


Scroggs 


Swinburn 


Ramsay 


Shanks 


Swan 


Reay 
Reid 


Short 


Stewart 


Shotton 


Taylor 


Reavely 


Sheraton 


Temple 


Rochester 


Shepherd 


Thirlbeck 


Rogers 


Sibbet 


Thoborn 


Robinson 


Smith 


Thompson 


Richardson 


Steel 


Todrig 


Ross 


Stephenson 


Turner 



Twizel 

Urwin 

Watts 

Watson 

Wake 

Weatherhead 

White 

Wigham 

Wilson 

Wilkinson 

Wood 



The following dates will show the successive stages 
fey which the Eailway facilities of the town have arrived 
at their present position: — Maj Srd, 1847, the Eailway 
from Blyth to Percy Main was opened. August 2wc?, 
1852, an Act to incorporate the Blyth and Tyne Eail- 
way Company came into operation; having until this 
time been in private hands. June 15th, 1853, after a 
protracted struggle before a Committee of the House of 
Commons, the Blyth and Tyne Eailway Bill (branches 
to Morpeth and Tynemouth) was approved of ; the rival 
scheme, entitled " The Morpeth and Tynemouth Eail- 
way and Dock Bill," being rejected. The successfal 
scheme received the royal assent on the 4:th of August 
May 25th, 1857, the Morpeth branch was completed. 
Mat/ 27th, 1861, trains began to run from Blyth and 
Tynemouth. July, 1862, the Wansbeck Valley line 
opened to Scots Gf-ap. June 27th, 1864, trains began to 
run from Blyth to Newcastle. May 1st, 1867, the new 
station at Blyth was opened. 

It is interesting to trace the steps by which the great 
improvement, of the position of the working classes has 
been effected during the last two hundred years. In 
the time of the second Charles mechauics received only 



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SI8T0RY OF BLTTS. Ill 

six or seven shillings a week ; yet, in 1680, the honour- 
able member for Barnstaple complained in Parliament 
of the exhorbitant wages paid to our artisans. " The 
English mechanic,*' said he, " instead of working like 
the Hindoo for a piece of copper, exacts not less than a 
shilling a day/' On the other hand, the workmen then, 
as at present, complained of their low wages. Ballads 
were sung in the streets of Norwich and Leeds, deploring 
the sad condition of the Woollen weavers, who earned 
only 6d. pet day. Even they, however, expected no 
more than the return of the good old times of the 
Commonwealth, when they earned a shilling a day. 
I give a few extracts to show the wages given in 
Blyth at the beginniiig of the Idst century : 

1725. Wm. Douglass is paid 18/4, for 11 days mason work, at 1/8 per day. 

Paid 8/- to James Nicholson, for 12 days labouring work at -/^ per day. 

iKobert Corby is paid -/d for making two keel^sails and mending an 
old one. 

John Adon is paid £1 16/-, for leading timber, Ac«, with his own horse 
and cart, 18 days at 2/- per day. 

1733. Thomas Robinson receives £3 8/-, for leading stones off the rocks 
with two horses, 17 days at 4/- per day. 

1736. John and Francis Cuthbertson are paid for 21 days carpenter 
work, at 1/4 per day. 

1767. Robert Stoker is paid for servingjhe'masons, 48 days, at -flO 
per day. 

John Mills is paid for 15} days mason work, at 1/8 per day. Masons* 
wages the same as in 1725. 

1770. Paid Isbel Scott, for a quarter of a year cleaning the office, 2/6. 

1762. Paid Rev. Mr. Wood's salary, for one year's appointment to the 
chapel at Blyth, £31 10/-. 

1763. Paid Rev. J. Thompson half-year's i^idary, for doing duty at 
chapel, £20. 

1763. Paid Rev. Mr« Hall, on account of Francis Barrow's farm, 6/8. 

This shows that the stipend of the Incumbent of Ears- 
don waa raised at that period by a kind of customary 

N 

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178 HISTORY OF BLTTH. 

rate on each, farm ; of these there were 66 in the parish, 
which, at 6s. 8d. each, amonnted to £22 ; of course 
there would be the surplice fees besides. The tithes of 
the entire parish being in the hands of laymen* 

From the wages book of Debord and Co., kindly 
placed at my disposal, I find that in 1798, when building 
their first ship at the link-end, the wages of carpenters 
were only 2s. per day ; but in October of that year the 
wages were raised to 2s. 6d. In 1806, carpenters' wages 
were 4s. per day ; and before the end of the great war 
wages had risen to 6s. per day. Masons, who had been 
working for Is. 8d. in 1767, had now 3s. 6d. Joiners . 
had something less. I have not been able to find what 
Seamen's wages were in the last century, except that 
during the American war they were £3 10s. for a coal 
voyage ; but during the former part of this century they 
ranged from £10 to £8. At the close of the great 
Seamen's Strike, in 1815, the wages were £5 per voyage. 
At Plessy, 100 years ago, shifters had Is. 3d. per shiffc., 
and it required a hewer to be a first-rate workman to 
earn £1 in a fortnight. 

"While workmen's wages were small, drink was very 
plentifully given them on all kinds of occasion. From 
1723, Mrs Harrison has an account year after year for 
entertaining shipmasters, which varies from £90 to 
£120, which would be about 10s. for each voyage the 
ship loaded at Blyth. 

1725. Drink at binding workmen, £2 10/- 

Drink to Custom Houae Officers, for measuring wagons and barrows^ 

£8 3/. 
Ale given to labourers when theytook stones out of the chaxmel, £2 •/! 1 
Snuths' dionks, £3 13/5, 



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H18T0RY OF SLYTE. 179 

Ale given to the labourers at various times, for throwing chalk in the 
. fore part of the key, 12/8. 
Smiths' drinks, for beating and repairing the pans, from May Ist. 1739, 
to April 3rd, 1740, £20 13/- 

About 1760 Mrs. Hamson's name disappears, and 
John Watts dispenses the drink allowed by the Plessy 
office. We quote two or three items :— 

1762, Paid John Watts, for allowance for several people repairing the 
quays, £7 6/1. 

For entertaining Mr. Snnderland and the Custom House Officers when 
measuring the wagons and barrows, £5 5/- 

Treat to Sailors, by M. W. Ridley, Esq., £1 2/- 

Account for allowance to labourers for shovelling snow off wagon- 
way, £3 14/2. 

Accounts for allowance are constantly recurring to the 
end of the century. Many employers of labour at that 
time considered that they could get a greater amount of 
work done for a pint of ale than by twice its cost in 
money. 




cgxg) 



n2 

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BEDLINGTON. 



CHAMEBXI. 

Bedlington, Origin of Name. St. Cuthbert. Egfred's Gift of Lands 
and Privileges to St. Cuthbert. Cnthcard buys Bedlington with Cuthbert'a 
Money. St. Cuthbert's bones rest at Bedlington. Koger de Conyers. 
Bishop Beck. Bolden Bukes. Account of the State of Bedlington. Vil- 
lanage. Copyholds. King John at Bedlington. Robert the Palmer. 
Adam of Cambois. Wm. de Denum. The People pull down the Parsonage. 

^EDLINGTONSHIEE has the Wansbeck for its 
northern boundary, the sea for its eastern, the 
beautiful banks of the river Blyth for its southern, and 
the parishes of Stanniagton and Morpeth for its western. 
Its extent is about thirty square miles, and embraces 
the townships of Bedlington, Netherton, Choppington, 
West Sleekbum, East Sleekbum, and Cambois* Beds 
of coal and freestone extend over the whole parish. 

The name of Bedlington is of Saxon origin, as are the 
names of most of the places in this and the adjoining 
parishes. The names of families enter largely into the 
composition of local names. They may be easily dis- 
tinguished by the particle ing before hamy ton^ hally Sfc. 
Professor Kemble has furnished us with a valuable list 
of family names in his Saxons of England, in which it 
appears that there was a tribe of Saxons called Bsedlingas, 
and Bedlington would mean the town where the Bsed- 
lingas lived. 



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182 SI8T0RY OF BLYTH. 

The history of Bedlington commenoes when it became 
part of the patrimony of St. Outhbert. Cuthbert, the 
great saint of Northumberland, from whose exemplary 
and wonderful life the church derived such great honours 
and immense riches, was bom of obscure parents : when 
young he entered the abbey of Melrose, and during 
fourteen years' residence in it secured the esteem and 
veneration of that religious brotherhood. When Eata 
removed from Melrose to Landisfame, Cuthbert accom- 
panied him and was made prior. For twelve years he 
governed the priory, where he lived an exemplary life 
for piety and self-denial. Even at this early period 
seclusion had begun to be considered meritorious, and 
mankind were forming the opinion that the surest way 
to gain the victory was to shun the contest. Landisfame, 
although enjoying only a precarious intercourse with 
the main-land, was considered by Cuthbert as not 
adapted to promote his eternal interests. He therefore 
retired to Fame, and, having constructed a lowly 
oratory, rigidly devoted himself to prayer and humilia- 
tion. There he continued for nine yearfe, practising every 
austerity which misguided zeal could impose. He has 
the credit of having, during the nine years he spent 
here, performed miracles without number, and upon the 
most trifling occasions. At the end of these nine years 
of mortification he was reluctantly compelled to assume 
the management of the see of Landisfame, where he 
performed his miracles with greater facility and fre- 
quency. After having resided at Landisfame for the 
Bhort period of two years, he again returned to hia 
secluded oratory at Fame; and after the short space of 



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BEBLINGTON. 183 

two months fell a victim to his own austerities ; he died 
in the year 688. Egfred, king of Northumberland, so 
highly esteemed Cuthbert for his piety and power of 
working miracles that he made him a grant of all the 
lands between the Tyne and Wear, to hold in as full 
and ample a manner as the king himself held the same, 
and these privileges were to attach to all lands bought 
with his money. 

The privileges conferred upon the bishopric or county 
palatinate of Durham consisted of all manner of royal 
jurisdiction, both civil and military, by land and by sea. 
For the exercise thereof the bishops had proper courts 
of all kinds held in their name and by their authority. 
Thus by themselves and their officers they did justice to 
all persons, in all cases, without the interference of the 
king or any of his officers ordinarily in anything. The 
king's writ did not run in this county, but was directed 
to the bishop. Bedlington constituted a detached part 
of the county of Durham, from the episcopate of Cuth- 
card ; he was the last of the bishops of Landisfame, and 
the first of those of Chester-le-Street. He made large 
additions to the revenues of the see, to which he 
succeeded in 900, and presided over fifteen years. 
Simeon, of Durham, tells us that amongst other valuable 
acquisitions he purchased the villa of Bedlington, with 
its appendances, Nedderton, Qrubbo, Twizle, Cubbing- 
ton, Slikebum, and Oamboise. The sites of Qrubbo and 
Twizle are now unknown. At the conquest the northern 
counties very reluctantly submitted J to the rule of 
William, and in 1072, on the return of the king from 
an expedition into Scotland, he caused Walcher, the 



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184 HISTORY OF BLTTH. 

Bon of a nobleman in Lorraine, and who had been 
invited into England, to be elected bishop of Durham, 
and soon after his elevation to the episcopacy he received 
from the king the earldom of Northumberland. This 
bishop is generally allowed to have been the first who 
exercised the palatine powers in the full sense of the 
word, though it is certain that various privileges had 
been annexed to the see from the time of Alfred. The 
motives, says Surtees, which at this crisis might lead to 
the delegation of so extensive a privilege are sufficiently 
obvious. The vicinity of Scotland, then an active and 
vigilant enemy, and not less the insecure state of the 
northern province, always restless ujjdor the severity of 
the Norman yoke, demanded that at such a distance 
from the seat of government a power should exist 
capable of acting on emergency with promptitude and 
vigour; and the motives are no less apparent which 
would incline the monarch to select for this important 
trust an enlightened ecclesiastic appointed by and 
attached to the crown, in preference to a hereditary 
noble. Owning henceforth no earthly superior, the 
prelates of Durham continued for four centuries to 
exercise every right attached to a distinct and indepen- 
dent sovereignty. 

In 1274, the bishop of Durham was presented for 
taking wreck of the sea, and using other liberties here, 
upon unknown warranty. But Edward I, by his 
charter in 1293, acknowledged this district to be parcel 
of the liberty of the church of St. Cuthbert of Durham., 
within the precincts of the county of Northumberland ; 
aad in 1895 the bishop's right to try causes arising 



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BEDLINGTON. 185 

here, in his own chancery, under his writs, and by his 
own justices, was acknowledged at the assizes at New- 
castle; also his right of appointing one coroner for 
Bedlington. It continued a royal franchise under the 
bishops of Durham, and had its own courts and officers, 
till by the statute 27th Henry VIII, cap. 24, it was 
abridged of them, and in civil matters merged in the 
county of Durham. It continued to be a part of the 
county of Durham till October 20th, 1844, when an act 
passed in the last session of parliament came into oper- 
ation, entitled " The Detached Part of Counties Act," 
by which Islandshire, Norhamshire, and Bedlington- 
shire were detached from the county of Durham, and 
attached to the county in which they were locally 
situated. 

Bedlington afforded a temporary resting place to the 
body of St. Cuthbert, 1069. At the Conquest, the men 
of Northumberland (of which, be it remembered, the 
patrimony of St. Cuthbert at that time formed a part), 
had for the first three years of his reign set the Con- 
queror at defiance, but in the year 1069, William gave 
full powers to Bobert Cumin and his Earl to proceed 
forthwith into the north, and reduce it to obedience. 
Cumin reached Durham, and on the very night of his 
arrival was burnt alive. Another general was charged 
with the duty, but scarcely had he reached Northal- 
lerton, when, by the interference of St. Cuthbert, a 
thick mist overshadowed the north, and further progress 
was impossible. At last the king himself undertook the 
expedition, and arrived at York on his journey, vowing 
to destroy the land by fire and sword. The news waa 



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186 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

no sooner told in Durham, than the bishop, apparently 
no longer relying upon his saint, convened a chapter of 
the monks; and the result of the deliberations was the 
removal of the body of St. Cuthbert to Landisfame. 
Their flight took place in the middle of December, the 
first day's journey ending at Jarrow; the next night 
they arrived at Bedlington; another night brought 
them to Tughall; and it was only on the fourth evening 
that they appeared on the strand opposite to the Island. 
Here (as it happened to be fall tide) by a particular 
interposition, the sea retired, and left a dry passage for 
the poor wanderers; and, as soon as they had passed, 
the sea returned to its bed. 

Roger de Conyers of Bishopton, and hereditary con- 
stable of the castle of Durham, as a reward for services 
rendered to the see of Durham, held Bedlington and 
Bedlingtonshire by the giffc of bishop Fambard (1126), 
rendering the service of two knights' fees This tenure 
did not descend. Knights' service was the most universal 
and honourable kind of tenure. The land required to 
form this tenure was called a knight's fee, and was of 
varied extent. In the 3rd year of Edward I., it was 
estimated at 12 caracutes, and valued at £20 yearly, 
The service rendered was, that the holder of the fee 
should attend his lord to the wars forty days if required. 
In those times the bishops not only sent their tenants 
to the wars, but went with them. When king Edward 
invaded Scotland, bishop Beck accompanied him in all 
the pomp and splendour of a palatine prince. 26 
standard bearers of his own household, and 140 knights, 
formed his train, and 1000 foot, and 500 horse, marched 



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BEDLINGTON. 187 

in the van of the army, under the consecrated banner of 
St. Outhbert, which was borne by Henry of Horncastre, 
a monk of the house of Durham. The bishop was 
present at several engagements, in one of which he is 
said to have been wounded ; and at the decisive victory 
of Falkirk, he led the second line of the English army, 
with 39 banners. No doubt he would claim the services 
of his vassals in Bedliagton to attend him on this 
occasion. But the bishop had, it seems, required more 
than the accustomed military services from the tenants 
of St. Cuthbert, who pleaded their privilege oihaliwarfolc 
(holy work people), not to march beyond the bishopric, 
and they petitioned parliament on the subject. 

In the Boldon Buke (the name given to the great 
rental of bishop Pudsey) the services required on all the 
demesne lands and possessions of the bishopric, are 
made in the form and manner of Doomsday Book. This 
curious record is in small folio, consisting of 24 pages, 
written in a bad hand, and is kept in the office of the 
bishop's auditor at Durham. The Surtees Society 
printed it with a translation, a few years ago. The 
following was the state of Bedlingtonshire at the period 
of this survey, or about 1183 : — 

" In Bedlington are four score ox-gang each of sixteen acres ; they pay 
four shillings farm rent, and one cart load of wood, and make stacks, and 
with the help of the other towns in Bedlingtonshire, they cart brushwood, 
and the stones for the mills ; and in like manner they make the mill dam ; 
and in like manner they inclose the coart, and roof the hall, and get ready 
the fishery, and make cart loads as far as Newcastle, and as far as Fenwick, 
but not beyond. Robert de Hugate holds in the same town 12 acres, which 
were part of the waste, and renders 40d. ; and II acres from another part, 
and for them he renders 44d. Guy holds one toft and one croft, and renders 
]2d. Seven cotters render 8s. Peter, of East Sieekbiirn, holds at the same 
place 6 acres. Each ox-gan^ renders one hen. 

West Sleekbum renders six marca and a half of farm rent, and carries 



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188 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

the bishop's writs as far as the Tweed, and goes on messages, and follows 
the pleas, and the villans make the mill dam, with one man for each house, 
and they make cart loads as far as Newcastle and Fenwick, on the lord 
bishop's journeys; and enclose the court, and roof the hall, and prepare the 
fisherj', as the men of Bedlington. TurkilL, who was the bishop's man, 
renders 12 hens, for his acquittance towards the bishop. Edwin renders 12 
hens. Patrick renders one pound of pepper. Netherton renders five marcs 
of farm rent, and makes cart loads and other services as West Sleekburn. 
Robert, son of Gilpatrick, renders 24 hens. Arnold, son of Uctred, 12 hens. 
William Newcum, 6 hens. Ralph, son of WiUiam, 12d. Cboppington ren- 
ders four marcs of farm rent, and makes cart loads and other services as 
West Sleekburn. Cambois renders four marcs, two shillings and eight 
pence, and makes cart loads and other services as West Sleekburn. Edmund 
and Robert, brothers, render 12 hens. East Sleekburn renders four marcs, 
four and eightpence, of farm rent, and 40 hens ; and makes cart loads and 
other services as West Sleekburn. A certain cotter renders 12d. The mills 
of Bcdlingtonshire render 24 marcs." 

The house of each villan, cottar, or fanner, was 
situated in a toft, with one or more crofts adjoining, the 
houses being in this way separated from each other. 
Many of our villages still show the old form, each 
cottage standing apart in its gaixlen, and backed by a 
small close or croft. In Bedlington there was the 
demesne house or hall of the bishop, and the dwellings 
of one or more free tenants, perhaps not much superior 
in convenience and accommodation to the cottage of the 
villan. Attached to the village, with its enclosed parcels 
of ground, was the common field where each tenant held 
his own portion of acres of arable land, under the name 
of ox-gangs; at a greater distance was the pasture where 
the cattle fed in common. Every village had its herd 
for looking after the stock of whatever kind; its pounder 
for looking after stray cattle; and its smith or carpen- 
ter. AU the people were the lord's servants, and in 
return for the work they rendered him, they had each 
their little holding, which provided for the daily wants 
of the family. They were termed " villans," and under 



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BBDLINGTON. 189 

this general designation was included cot-men, bond- 
servants, and farmers. After the Conquest there were 
three classes of slaves: Is^, Villans in gross, who were 
the personal property of their lord, and performed the 
lowest household duties. They were very numerous, 
and not being particularly allotted to the soil, were 
frequently sold, and even exported to foreign countries. 
2ndy The villans regardant, or predial slaves, who were 
attached to the soil, and specially engaged in agriculture ; 
they were in a better condition than the villans in gross, 
and were allowed many indulgences. The villan could 
not leave his lord's land, he was a servant for life. If 
he left his lord he could be recovered as a stray, unless 
he had lived meanwhile for a year and a day in a 
privileged town or borough. The villan could not give 
his daughter in marriage without his lord's leave, and 
in many cases had to pay a certain sum for the liberty. 
If a freeman married a female villan, neife^ as she was 
called, their children were free ; but if a freewoman 
married a villan, their children were villans. A ^rd 
class of villans, differing from the last more in name 
than condition, were termed cottars. These had been 
instructed in some handicraft or trade, such as a car- 
penter or a smith, which they practised for their master, 
still residing on the estate, and subject to their lords in 
the same manner as predial slaves. As society advanced 
the state of slavery became less adapted to the interests 
of proprietors, and frequent manumissions took place ; 
by this means the existence of villanage became less and 
less general, and at length totally disappeared. The 
viUan in course of time became the copyholder of modem 



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190 BtaTORY OF BLYTm 

days. Being allowed to holdlaM'hiinself andhisctildren, 
for many years, the common law gave him the title to 
hold his land, on rendering the accustomed services, or' 
on payment of the money for which the services had 
been commuted. This title they possessed by custom, 
as shown in the lord's court. In this way was tenure 
by copyhold created in Bedlington. 

The services required of the bishop's tenants varied 
much in diflferent parts of the bishopric. In Bedlington 
they do not appear to have been so oppressive as in 
some places ; one of the services required discloses the 
existence of a bishop's hall and court in the village ; the 
hall being the occasional residence of the bishop. 
Within a period of thirty years, king John visited 
Bedlington on four separate occasions — ^so there must 
have be6n a tolerable house' in which to accomodiate 
him. Tradition is silent as to what part of the village 
the hall and court stood in, but we think with the help 
of existing faiets we miay discover their site. In the 
times to which we are referring, the land attached to 
the hall was called the demesne, being that portion of 
the lands of a manor which the lord of the mahor 
reserve for his immediate use and occupation. There 
is still a portion of land in the village known as 
the demesne. In the time of Charles I, the demesne 
house and garth (or field) was held by Henry Milbume, 
for Ss. yearly. The demesne is only separated fix)m the 
churchyard by a road and is church land. With these 
feots before us, we feel no hesitation in concluding that 
the ancient hall and court of Bedlington would stand 
somewhere^ about the sitcj now occupied \>j the chtcrch 



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BMDLINGTON. 191 

row. The tenants of West Sleekbum had to cany the 
bishops writs as far as the Tweed, to go on messages, and 
follow the pleas, all of which services have reference to 
the courts of law held in Bedlington. 

The mills rendered 24 marcs ; these were, Bedlington 
mill situated where the Iron Works are at present, and : 
and Sheepwash, or, as it was sometimes called, Cleaswell 
rma ; whether Humford mill was then in existence, I ' 
have not ascertained. In feudal times mills were 
valuable property, on account of the tenants within the 
manors in which they were situated, being compelled to 
grind a certain quantity of com at them, at least all 
that was consumed within the manor, and consequently 
to pay a heavy mulcture. This service was called in 
latin, secta multaircBy and in English, suit of mill. The 
miller retained a certain portion of the meal which he 
ground for the tenants, varying from the twelfth to an 
eighteenth. Patrick, of West Sleekbum, rendered a 
pound of pepper, an unmistakeable proof that he was 
engaged in trade. Hodgson says of Cambois, that it 
is. often written Oamb-house, and might have its name 
from having a cambium^ or house of trade, barter, or 
exchange ; Fatriok, no doubt, was a m^chant of those 
times. 

King John, we have said, visited Bedlington several 
times. We proceed to give the best account we could 
procure of the dates end occasions of those visits. In 
the beginning of 1209, tha relations between the. king- 
doms of England cmd Scotland seem to have been far 
from amicable; at length King John, in the month of 
April in that year, summoned WiUiam^king^of Scotland^ > 



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192 msTonr of blttm. 

to meet him in Newcastle. An interview took place at 
Bedlington between the two monarchs, whence they 
proceeded together to Norham, at which place the 
negociations were conducted^ They extended from the 
23rd to the 26th of the month, but were attended by no 
satisfactory results John appears to have called at 
Bedlington again on his way southward. He again 
visited Bedlington on the 25th and 26th of January, 
1213^ during his progress to the north. In the beginning 
of the year 1216 king John marched against his rebel- 
lious barons in the north ; many of whom had offended 
him by doing homage to the king of Scotland, at Felton; 
the barons, to impede the king's progress, set fire to 
their villages and com ; and the king himself destroyed 
with fire and sword the towns and villages that lay in 
his way. Among other places he burnt Morpeth, Mit- 
ford, Alnwick, and Wark. 

During this expedition he was again two days at 
Bedlington, the 9th and 10th of January ; this was his 
last visit ; he died in the succeeding October at Newark. 
When the pope, during his quarrel vrith King John, 
placed the kingdom of England under an interdict, the 
then bishop of Durham, Philip of Pictavia, supported 
the king against the pope ; for which he was excom- 
municated, and, dying under the sentence, was buried 
in unconsecrated ground, and vrithout ceremony. This 
occurred about the time of the king's first visit to Bed- 
lington. There was no bishop appointed for nine years, 
during which time the king would receive the revenue 
of the see, which will perhaps account for his so frequent 
visits to Bedlington. 



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BEDLINGTON, 193 

Appended to the accoimt of Bedlingtonshire, in the 
copy of Bolden Biike, and which is bound up with 
Hatfield's Survey, are the following memoranda, which 
are valuable as shewing the gradual changes which took 
place in the early tenure of this district : — 

" Be it known that the Lord Bishop Walter, of Dur- 
ham, 1249-1260, granted to all the freemen and their 
tenants of Netherton, Great Sleekbum, and Cambois, 
who hold the same vills as twelve caracutes of land, that 
they and their heirs shall be free from the carriage of 
the victuals of the bishop, to wit, from Bedlington to 
Fenwick, and from Bedlington to Gateshead ; that they 
should be free from the service of covering the bishop's 
hall at Bedlington; from making and repairing the 
mill dam ; and from carrying mill stones ; and also 
from merchet and aid, except when all the freemen of 
the bishopric render an aid." He exempted them also 
from carrying writs, and making and repairing the fish 
pond. For relief of this amercement, they shall give to 
the bishop yearly for every caracute half a marc. The 
said bishop also allows the said vills to grind their com 
at the 16th dish ; to be free from the suit of mulcture. ; 
for this concession they shall give half a marc per 
annum for each carracute. — Sum of this relief in money 
twelve marcs. The same bishop granted to Eobert the 
Palmer, Edmund son of Edmund, John son of Patrick, 
Lawrence son of Edard, Walter son of William, Eobert 
son of Henry, Thomas son of Edmund, and Henry son 
of Peter who hold little Sleekbum, for three caracutes 
of land, freedom from all the above services, paying for 
the release half-a-marc for each caracute. They shall 



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194 HISTORY OF BLTTH. 

grind, &c. as above. The fishery at Camboisis aflGbmed 
to Adam Cambois, and his heirs for 3s. yearly, free and 
quit. Walter, lord bishop of Durham, freed John son 
of Thomas of Bedlington, for ever from his servitude* 
At this period surnames had not come into use, but the 
above shows the first step towards them. A large 
portion of surnames are formed upon what we term 
Christian names ; as in the above, Edmund son of 
Edmund afterwards became Edmundson. Robert the 
Palmer has his name from the common form, which 
enthusiastic devotion assumed in the eleventh and 
tweKth centuries, that of going on a pilgrimage to some 
spot supposed to be of peculiar sanctity, either within 
the kingdom or abroad. A palmer was a pilgrim who 
carried in his hand a staff of palm-tree ; or one who 
returned from the Holy Land bearing branches of a 
palm. A pilgrim, or crusader, he was distinguished 
from the other pilgrims by being a constant traveller to 
holy places, and liviQg on alms ; he travelled imder a 
vow of poverty. In the eyes of his rude neighbours 
Robert would be a remarkable personage, according to 
the notions of the times ; his vocation of a palmer, the 
extraordinary scenes he had witnessed, and the holy 
places he had visited, would invest him with an interest 
and sanctity in their estimation, that would place him 
in the first rank among the followers of Christ. 

A transaction in 1313, that affected Bedlington gives 
us a lively representation of the unsettled and imhappy 
condition of the northern counties, consequent upon the 
failure of the ambitious attempt of our two first Edwards 
to subdue and annex the kingdom of Scotland to the 



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BEDLINGTON. 195 

English crown. Eobert Bruce having liberated his 
country from the English yoke, made an irruption into 
Durham, and suffered soldiers to wreak their vengence 
on that unfortunate district, by a week of unrestrained 
plunder and merciless devastation. Edward attempted 
to negociate a truce, but instead of listening to his over- 
tures, Bruce again invaded England, and burnt the 
towns of Hexham and Corbridge, and part of the city of 
Durham ; and although he was repulsed in an assault 
on Carlisle, only consented to return across the border 
upon the four northern counties purchasing a truce from 
him by a payment of two thousand pounds each. The 
prior of Durham's estate or interest in the church of 
Bedlington contributed £4 towards raising this sum 
wherewith to purchase the peace of Robert Bruce. The 
collector was Eobert de Willybyr, vicar of "Woodhom. 
At that period the inhabitants of Northumberland and 
Durham were not only suffering between the fire and 
Bword of their northern neighbours, and the negligence 
and tyranny of their own king, but were also enduring 
all the horrors of pestilence and famine. While affairs 
were in this desparate condition. Sir Gilbert de Middle- 
ton, with other gentlemen plunderers, among whom was 
Adam, son of Eichard de Camhouse, hoisted among 
their suffBriug neighbours the standard of rebellion. 
Middleton certainly threw the country and king into a 
great panic. He proclaimed himself Duke of North- 
umberland, and spread his forces far into Yorkshire ; 
and while in the height of his assumed power he seized, 
in the southern part of the county of Durham, two 
cardinals, going on a peace-making errand into Scotland, 

o2 

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196 HISTORY OF BLTTE. 

and in their suite the new Bishop of Durham. The 
conspirators hurried the bishop away from the scene of 
his capture to the castle at Mitford. Heavy subsidies 
were put upon the bishopric for the ransom of the prelate, 
and the price of peace from the rebel army ; and Sir 
Gilbert, October 12th, 1317, gave a receipt dated at 
Mitford, for 200 marks in silver, paid to him by "Wm. 
de Denum. The king, in a letter to the pope, dated 
October 28th, says the bishop was detained in prison till 
a great and almost intolerable sum of money was paid 
for his ransom. Adam de Cambois, for the part he took 
in this' affair, forfeited his estate at Cambois, which 
consisted of four tofts and eighty acres of land. 1326, 
Edward II. granted Adam's tofts and acres to the above 
William de Denum. This William de Denum was 
temporal chancellor to Bishop KeUou, and had a grant 
from Bishop Beaumont of one-sixth part of his manor, 
and of 30 acres of land in the township of Choppington. 
William lived at Cambois. Hutchinson quotes an 
authority to show that he held a third part of Cambois 
by fealty, and 30s. rent at the exchequer, during suit at 
the three courts at Bedlington, and grinding such com 
as grew on these lands, and he expended id his household 
at the bishop's mill at Bedlington, at a sixteenth mulc- 
ture. He was a lawyer of considerable eminence, and 
rose to the rank of baron of the exchequer ; he was also 
chief justice of Berwick, and showed good taste in 
choosing this sea-side spot as his occasional residence. 
His widow Isabella de Denum, in 1359 gave 24 marks 
to the crown for the manors of Cambois and Sleekbum 
West ; and about the year 1367, according to an inquest 



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BEDLINGTON. 197 

after her death, finding that she was dying, ordered 
herself to be conveyed from her manor house here to the 
chapel of the manor, with the fraudulent intention of 
enfeoffing Sir John Stryvelyn and his heirs in these 
premises, as well as in the lands in "West Sleekbum and 
Bedlington. 

In 1379, an occurrence took place, which shows that 
the state of society at Bedlington was at that period in 
an extremely disorganised condition. The populace 
pulled down the rectory house (the manor of the monks) 
and had plundered and carried away the tythe com, 
&c., stored up by the priest ; had felled and carried 
away certain trees, and washed their clothes in the fish- 
pond, to the detriment of the fish. The only punish- 
ment inflicted on the evil-doers was, that the official of 
bishop Hatfield commanded the parish priest of Bed- 
lington to excommunicate divers persons unknown, 
who had committed the outrage. The pulling down of 
a house, the carrying away com, and feUing and carry- 
ing away trees, give us the idea of a multitude being 
engaged in the outrage, and that operations of such 
magnitude must have had many onlookers; and the fact 
that the priest had to excommunicate divers persons 
unknown, shows that the- witnesses of the outrage were 
either overawed by the numbers of the depredators, or 
else sympathised with them. The above occurrence 
shows how slight at that time was the influence of the 
Eomish priesthood upon the bulk of the people. But 
the social condition of the people of England then, indi- 
cates the cause of this outbreak. The "Commons of 
England," as the peasantry called themselves, were in 



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198 HISTORY OF BLTTH. 

the throes of transition from serfdom to freedom. Their 
condition at that period was sufficiently wretched and 
galling. A considerable portion of them were still serfs, 
or villans, bound to the soil, and sold or transmitted 
with the estates of the nobles and other land proprietors. 
The existing discontents and sufferings of this class had 
been intensified by the parliament, in an evil hour, 
passing a capitation tax, 1378. Every male and female 
of fifteen years of age was to pay three groats ; the 
levying of this akward tax might have passed over with 
nothing more serious than a few riots between the tax- 
gatherers and the people, but somehow the discontented 
were goaded into open insurrection. They wanted 
nothing but a leader, and this they soon found in a 
" riotous priest" who took the name of Jack Straw. In 
a few days the peasantry of five or six coxmties were up 
in arms. In Kent, an act of brutality on the part of a 
taxgatherer, on the daughter of Walter the Tyler, led 
the commons of Kent to rise as one man ,and with "Wat 
at their head marched to London, where they very near 
efltected the destruction of the government. While 
these events were passing in London and its neighbour- 
hood the servile war had spread over a great part of 
England. After the death of Wat Tyler the insurrec- 
tion was put down with terrible severity. Besides 
numbers that were slain during the conflict, more than 
1,500 of the peasantry were executed afterwards. 



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CHAPTER XII. 

Gentlemen Thieves. Dutchmen at Bedlington. Bishop's Tenants. 

WE have now to notice another outrage, but 
committed by men of a very different class. 
On the 24th July, 1449, at an inquisition at Bedlington, 
the jurors say. That Eobert Ogle, jun., of Ogle, knight, 
Thomas Ogle his brother, Eobert Ogle, of Ogle, esquire, 
John Trewick, of Trewick, gentleman, John Hepple, of 
Ogle, yeoman, with other malefactors unknown, on the 
20th of June, 1448, armed with lances, swords, bows 
and arrows, carried oflF from West Sleekbum and 
Cambois, 30 sheep belonging to John Franshh; 14 oxen, 
14 sheep, a sword and a buckler, a pair of horse hopples 
of iron, a breast plate and a bridle, from "William 
Pereson of West Sleekbum; 5 sheep from Eichard, of 
West Sleekbum; 6 oxen, a heifer, 20 sheep, from John 
Brown, of West Sleekbum; 5 horses, a saddle, a pair of 
sheets, a shift, a blanket, and a dagger, from John 
Hunter, of Cambois. The leaders in this wholesale 
plunder were members of one of the best families in the 
county. Grentlemen thieves were common at this period. 
Documents of a similar nature preserved in the public 
repositories of the kingdom, would fill many volumes; 
and they develop an almost inconceivable amount of 
theft, merely as a trade; of hatred, long and deeply 
cherished, until an opportunity for revenge should arise; 
of bravery worthy a better cause; of well-planned strar- 
tagem and open violence, attended too frequently by 



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200 EI8T0R Y OF BL YTH. 

the most savage cruelty. In short, it appears a matter 
of surprise that the county at large within fifty miles of 
the borders should have been inhabited at all, as neither 
by night nor day could a man reckon upon his life or 
substance for a single hour. Though more than a year 
had elapsed between the theft and the inquisition, there 
is nothing said about the delinquents having been called 
to account for their crime. So feeble was the action of 
the law at that period, especially towards men in their 
position, that in all likelihood they would never be made 
to answer for their conduct. Indeed, if Hodgson's 
pedigree of the Ogles of Choppington be correct, the 
above Sir Eobert Ogle died a baron in 1469. 

In our accoimt of Blyth we noticed the Dutch ship of 
war following into the harbour and capturiag a Dimkirk 
privateer, and a portion of the crews of both ships pro- 
ceeding as far as Bedlington, where ten of each party 
were apprehended. We now give Mr. Camaby's letter 
to the bishop asking advice what to do with his prisoners. 

"Bedlington, 16th August, 1635. Whereas there 
has been a Dutch man-of-war, with 90 musketeers on 
board, which has driven a Dunkirk privateer with 30 
men on board him, into the harbour of Blyth ; they did 
pursue him so hard, and shot at him when he was in 
the harbour, that the crew were forced to leave their 
ship, and betake themselves to flight. And the Dutch- 
men did so hotly pursue them with a dozen muskets, 
and sounding a trumpet, as put the coxmtry in a great 
Mght. Ten of the Dunkirkers sought shelter in Bed- 
lington, whereupon notice was given to me, and I have 
taken measures to detain both them and ten of the 



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BEDLINGTON. 201 

Dutclimeii who pursued them, and have them confined 
in this town till your lordship's pleasure he known. The 
remainder of the Dutchmen have put to sea, and have 
taken the Dunkirk ship with them, but they still lie 
before the haven till such time as they can have these 
men at liberty, or else know farther of your lordship's 
pleasure; which I have partly engaged they shall know 
before to-morrow night. I have had some parley with 
the Hollanders' ship, about their taking away the Dim- 
kirk ship with them, and a letter has been brought to 
me from the captain, which I have made bold to send 
herewith to your lordship. I should have made bold to 
have troubled your lordship with many more passages 
of this business, but that the bearer of this will be able 
to certify to your lordship most of the particulars. Thus 
desiring your lordship to consider some speedy course to 
be taken in this case, because the whole shire is both in 
great fear and great trouble, and at some charge with 
the keep and watching of these twenty men. Besides it 
is much to be feared, that the Dutchmen may come on 
shore with their land soldiers and take away their men 
by force. Now, while I am writing, I perceive by the 
confession of one of the Dunkirkers, that he with his 
associates have sunk and burnt about four-score of the 
Dutch fishing vessels, and the Dutch endeavour what 
they can to be revenged on them, and this is their 
quarrel. The press and outcry of these people is so 
confused, and this letter requiring such speedy delivering 
into your hands, makes me leave off somewhat abruptly. 
Therefore, wholly commending the ordering of these 
affairs to your lordship's grave consideration, and 



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202 



HISTORY OF BLYTH. 



hoping your lordship will send such directions by some 
one whom your lordship thinks fittest to employ, and 
may take speedy course therein. And so I rest, 

"Tours, to be commanded, 
To the "WM. OAENABT.'' 

Bishop of Durham, 

It is probable the bishop returned by the bearer of 
this letter verbal instructions to Mr. Camaby, hence our 
inability to trace the denouement of this affair. 

A RENTAL OF LANDS IN BEDLINGTON, DUE TO THE LORD 
BISHOP OF DURHAM, IN THE REIGN OF CHARLES I, 



£ 8. d. 
Henry Tililbum, half farm 10 6 
Jane Walker, half farm ..0 10 6 
George Marshall, a farm . . 1 10 
Robert La wson, a farm.... 110 
John Skipsey, a farm .... 1 1 
William Hunter, half farm 10 6 
William Wat sen, a farm ..110 



Cathbert Watson, a farm £110 
Catherine Wilson, a farm.. 110 

Robert Mill, a farm 1 I 

Richard Brown, half farm 10 6 
Thomas Swan, a farm .... 1 1 
Mary Cuthbert, half farm 10 6 
Thomas Michelson, a farm 110 
Thomas Scott, a farm .... I 1 



There are 13 cottages and garths belonging to the several tenants, copy- 
holders, at one shilling rent for every cottage. 

FREEHOLDERS IN BEDLINGTON. 

Ralph Baytes, of Ilallywell, per annum ,«ri 28. lOd. 

Mr. Fenwick, of Prudhoe, per annum 14s. 6d. 

LEASEHOLDERS. 

Henry Milbnrne, the demesne house and garth £0 8 

John Errington, one farm 1 1 

„ more for acquittal ;.«••.. 4 

„ for one other farm 8 16 9 

The wife of William Milburn, for three farms and a half 3 13 9 

Bed lingron Water Mill 4 

Bedlington Colliery 2 

THE YEARLY RETURN OF ALL THE LANDS IN THE COUNTY 
PALATINE OF DURHAM, AS THEY WERE RETURNED BY 
THE ASSESSORS UPON OATH, UPON THB SUBSIDY ACT OF 
Is. 2d. IN THE POUND, UPON THE CLEAR YEARLY VALUE 
OF ALL THE LANDS, dec, Ac. 1670-]. 

Bedlington Parish and Shire, t» ^0^0 £34 7 8 

Earl of Carlisle, for lands in Netherton 70 



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BEDLINGTON. 203 

Sir William Middleton, for lands in Choppinjfton- 70 

,, ,, for lands in West Sleekburn 65 

Sir Thomas Longarill, for lands in Camboise 60 

East Slekrburn — 

John Da V J' £12. Mr. Metham£8. Mr. Ewbank £8. Mr. Crowe 8 

Gawin Pearson 8 

Edward Milburn, for salt pans ••... 30 

Charles Reah, for colliery 10 

Mr. Elias Smith, for Glebe lands 60 9 

Doctor Wood, for the rectory 60 

For two parts of the town lands of Bedlington, George Potts and 

Thomas Potts, and other tenants 130 

For the third part of the town lands of Bfdiington, Mrs. Mary 

Fenwick, Thomas Smart, and James Watson, tenants 80 

For the copyhold cottages, Bedlington 8 13 4 

Of the early Saxon church of which Bedlington could 
once boast there are now no remains. The present 
church, before the recent alterations, was described by 
Randal as small, covered with lead, and having an old 
tower. Before 1818, it consisted of a chancel 32 ft. by 
17 ft. ; nave, 52 ft. by 24 ft. ; and tower, 16 ft. by 9^ ft. 
A Norman window, rich in moulding and of unusual 
character, stands in the western front of the tower. The 
chancel was re-built in 1736. In January, 1773, during 
a high wind, the church, which had been newly covered, 
was entirely imroofed. In 1818, being too small for 
the congregation, an addition was made to it on the 
north side of the nave ; the alterations cost £713, of 
which sum £616 was raised, by subscription, the remain- 
der by rate. In the Blyth Gleaner for September of 
that year, it is named that on Sunday, the 13th instant, 
Bedlington church was opened after its enlargement, 
when the vicar preached fifty-five minutes on Isaiah liv, 
13, and wearied his hearers as well as himself. A col- 
lection of £16 was made after the sermon, to provide 
book^ for the Sunday school. 



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204 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

From the overcrowded state of the churchyard, it 
became necessary a few years ago to form a new ceme- 
tery ; for this purpose the bishop of Durham generously 
gave a piece of ground by the side of the road leading 
to Netherton; when completed, it was consecrated on 
the 1st of July, 1856, by the bishop of Manchester. 

The greater part of the trees that now ornament the 
churchyard were planted by vicar EUison in 1726. 
When the foundations of the new part of the church 
were making, there were found the remains of a man, 
supposed to be those of Cuthbert Watson, a noted sleep- 
walker, who was killed upon the spot where they were 
found. He had risen in his sleep on the 14th February, 
1669, and was in the act of climbing the north buttress 
of the tower with great ease and firmness ; but a person 
passing by at the time, and dreadjbig the danger of his 
situation, spoke to him, at which he awoke, fell, and 
was instantly killed. This story is supported by the 
current tradition of the place, by an entry said to be in 
the parish register, and by the above date and the words 
" Watson's wake" out upon the buttress. 

According to Eeginald, the church of Bedlington 
belonged to the convent of Durham before the time of 
bishop Carilopth, 1080, and was held by one of the sec- 
ular canons, as his prebend, from this period until it 
was given to the monks of Durham in the time of bishop 
Flambard, 1120. From this period till 1247 it was a 
rectory in the presentation of the convent, the monks 
reserving unto themselves a mark, the tithe com of 
Netherton, and a toffc in Bedlington. In 1247, bishop 
Famham appropriated the church and its revenues to 



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BEDLINGTON. 205 

the office of sacrist in the convent of Durham, to aid in 
the building of the nine altars which had been begun 
five years before ; and instituted a vicarage, which he 
endowed with 45 marks per annum, arising- from the 
whole altarage, excepting however the tithe of hay from 
the bishop's demesne, two tofts on the east side of the 
church, and eight acres of arable land. The great tithes 
of the parish of Bedlington were, before the dissolution, 
received by the sacrist, and their value expended upon 
the furniture of the church of Durham. They were 
re-granted to the dean and chapter in 1541, and after 
being a while in lease, were annexed to the eleventh 
prebend, with the exception of the com tithes of Gam- 
bols, which, with the small tithes of the whole parish 
and a glebe, constituted the endowment of the vicarage. 
Incumbents of Bedlington during the time it was a 
rectory : — Lumbertus Grermium, vicar of Bedlington, 
occurs as a witness to a deed about Plessey, 1267 ; 
Eichard de Claxton, 1278; William de Blakely, the 
last rector, 1311. Vicars : — Simon de Derlington, in 
1324; Gilbert de Burden, 1325; Thomas de Normanton 
1336; Anthony Fossor, 1344; John Lumbard, 1350; 
John Pays, 1379 ; William de Shylbum, 1390; Thomas 
Gowten, 1411 ; William Doncaster, 1418 ; John StHl- 
ington, 1419; John Bland, 1420; Richard Langcake, 
1466; [in 1469, Mr. E. Nykke, the vicar-general of 
the diocese, sequestered the profits of Bedlington church 
for the many defects and decays in the mansion house 
of the vicarage, and houses and buildings of the same, 
and appointed Thomas Fleming, bailiff of the liberty of 
Bedlington, keeper of the sequestration] ; Gilbert Gray- 



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206 BISTORT OF BLYTm 

bume, 1471; Elias BeU, 1477; John Eawson, 1478; 
Thomas Hall, 1484; Eobert Pritchard, 1489 ; [January 
22nd, 1497, the proceeds of this living were sequestered 
on account of divers defects and want of repairs in the 
vicarage house] ; Thomas Lee, 1498 ; Eobert Davell, 
L» L» D., 1527^ [he was a man of considerable note in 
his time; he was archdeacon of Northumberland in 
1518 and 1541 ; his name occurs as a canon of Exeter ; 
and on the 29th of May, 1641, he became prebendary 
of Halm, in the cathedral of York : he died in 
1551. This divine managed to hold the living of 
Bedlington through £ill the religious changes that 
occurred during the reigns of Henry YIII, Edward 
YI, and Mary] ; William Watson, Dec. 7th, 1557 
Eobert Greenwell, 1575 ; Eichard Wargner, 1578 
Henry Nanton, 1581 ; Thomas Colmore, M. A., 1603 
Eichard Colmire, B»A., 1609 ; Elias Smith, preacher of 
Grod's word, 1643 (he was ejected during the Protect- 
orate) ; John Damton, an intruder (he was put in by 
sequestration); Elias Smith, restored, died 1676; 
Charles Cowling, 1676 ; Francis Woodmas (who was a 
capital Greek scholar, and wrote notes on several of the 
Greek fathers, all which are contained in one manu- 
script volume in the College library at Durham), 1696 ; 
John Ellison, B. A., 1719; he was eldest son of Natha- 
niel Ellison, D. D., vicar of Newcastle. In 1765 there 
was printed a satirical composition in rhyme, entitled 
"The Will of a certain Northern Vicar," with a codicil 
annexed, purporting to be written by Ellison, vicar of 
Bedlington. Eeport assigned the authorship to the 
Eev. William Cooper, rector of Kirby Wiske; but he 



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BEDLINOTON. 207 

disavowed it by advertisement in the Newcastle Courant^ 
December 7th, 1765. The satire was lately republished 
in Newcastle. Thomas Drake was inducted 13th June, 
1774, after the death of Ellison, and died June 26th, 
1788. Henry Cotes was inducted September 28th, 
1788 ; and he died February 8th, 1835, aged 76. Cotes 
was a man of considerable literary attaiiiments, and was 
the author of " Sketches of Truth,^' in three volumes, 
and several other works both in prose and poetry. In 
the field adjoining the churchyard stands the following 
singular tombstone, dated 1801, erected by Cotes to the 
memory of a favourite horse called Wheatley i 

Steady the path ordained by nature's God, 
And free from human vices, Wheatley trod ; 
Yet hoped no future life— his all he livM — 
The turf he grazed his parting breath received, 
And now protects his bones ; disturb him not, 
But let one faithful horse respected rot. 

Weddell, the Plessy poet, in one of his rhyming 
effusions attacked the vicar anent the tombstone, accus- 
ing him of having shot the horse to save its keep, com 
and hay being dear at the time. The vicar's long ser- 
mons also brought into exercise the rhyming talent of 
Bob Charlton. One Sabbath momiug, on Cotes entering 
the vestry, he found a paper on the table containing the 
following expostulation: 

I pray Mr. Vicar, Do trv to be quicker, 

In teaching us miserable sinners. 
Our bellies are croakins, And its truly provoking, 

To be kept so long fiom our dinners !" 

Cotes was succeeded by the Eev. E. C, Ogle, M. A. 
The present vicar of Bedlington is the Rev. C. T. 
Whitley, M. A., hon. canon of Durham, and rural 



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208 SIS TOR Y OF BL YTE. 

dean. He was inducted into the vicarage in 1854, on 
the resignation of the Eev. B. 0. Ogle. 

The register books of the parish of Bedlington contain 
Bome curious entries, one or two samples of which we 
give: 

" Andrew Nicholson was baptized ye 30th day of Novemb., 1647, but i 
know not wn he wil either marie or die." 

" Isabel Fairbairn, of Cambous, weddow, was buereied Janewairy ye l-^th, 
being starved in ve snow coming from Morpeth, found dead in West Slig- 
bourn feild. 1608." 

'* James Watson and .Tann Ellet, both in Bedlington, was maried Novem- 
ber ye 27th, 1672. William Gray should have mairied ye above said 
woman that same day, but ye above said James Stoll away ye brid and Rod 
away wish hir of ye wedden even, soe ye said Gray Rod to JHarboum for ye 
brid but she was gone, soe ye bridgroom with his men cam home with out 
ve brid, whoe had provided a gret wedding, and all peple cam to ye wedden 
but noe brid was to be found. Soe ye said James had maried ye brid." 

Bedlington came down to the end of the last century 
with very much of the old-world appearance which it 
had presented for many generations. The greater 
portion of the houses were of one story, and thatched. 
There were still living in the village a few representatives 
of its ancient respectable families, bearing the title of 
*' laird." The kind of houses in which this class resided 
150 years ago may still be seen in the house occupied by 
Mr. Eobert Swan ; it was the dwelling of the Skipsey 
family. May 17th, 1632, "William Skipsey, of Bedling- 
ton, yeoman, left his body to be buried in the church of 
Bedlington, near his father ; and his customary farm in 
Bedlington, to his eldest eon John, and his heirs. There 
are several entries of the Skipsey famUy in the church 
registers of this parish; there were branches of the 
family in the adjoining parishes. In 1572 Grawin 
Skipsey held two farms in Hartley, of Sir John Delaval. 
In 1726 there was a Skipsey lived in Cowpen, who wae 



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BEDLINQTON. 209 

one of the four-and-twenty for the chapelry of Horton. 
Mrs. Barker occupied the best house in the village; she 
was the last of the Purvis family. In the Newcastle 
^oumal^ of January 14th, 1764, we have the account of 
Jier wedding, and according to the custom of the time, 
both the amount of the fortune, and the personal 
appearance of the bride are given; "On Thursday last 
was married at Bedlington, Mr. Christopher Barker, of 
North Shields, to Miss Purvis, of Bedlington, a beauti- 
ful young lady, with a fortune of £2,000." Miss Purvis 
was the only daughter of Thomas Purvis, Esq., of Bed- 
lington, and sister and sole heir of Henry Purvis, Esq., 
of the same place, who died March 21st, 1782. Charles 
Dalston Barker, son of Mrs. Barker, inherited the estate 
of his uncle. Mrs. Barker lived to the long age of 88 ; 
she died in 1819. There is a tablet in the church 
dedicated to her memory by her son. 

Mr. Q-eorge Marshall is the only representative of the 
ancient Bedlington lairds. In 1578, the Eev. Eichard 
Marshall, of Stainton-in-the-street, bequeathed to G-eo. 
Marshall and his wife, of Bedlington, 10s.; to the 
daughters of Anthonie Marshall, of Bedlington, 20s. ; 
" also I will and charge my executors to make supplica- 
tion to the bishop for their inheritance, according to the 
custom of Bedlington." In 1635, Greorge Marshall was 
one of the jury in Bedlington to which was refeixed the 
question of the extent of the bishop's rights in Bed- 
lingtonshire. Among the many respectable families 
connected with Bedlington in former times was that of 
Fenwiok. Mr. Fenwick, of Prudhoe, was one of the 
two freeholders in Bedlington in 1630, and Robert 



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210 HISTORY OF BLTTH. 

Fenwick, Esq., of Bedlington, was representative in 
parliament for Northumberland in 1664 and 1656. He 
purchased the manor of Bedlington, and Choppington 
farm, for the sum of £1,296, when parliament offered 
the lands of the Bishop of Durham for sale, 21st January, 
1649. On the 7th June, 1657, Eobert Ogle, of Esting- 
ton, gentleman, gave information before the House of 
Commons that Sir Eiohard CoUingwood, of Brandon, 
inveighed against Eobert Fenwick, Esq., a member of 
the present parliament, saying, " he was a base feUow ; 
his father was hanged for felony, and he did wondei who 
sent him to parliament." This Eobert Fenwick resided 
at Bedlington, in the old haU, and in 1661 compiled a 
long and elaborate pedigree of the Fenwick family, a 
copy of which, with its numerous evidences, drawings of 
seals, &c., is now in the College of Arms; and Hodgson, 
the coimty historian, says, " I have also a M.S. copy of 
antiquities of the family of Ogle, presented to Henry, 
then duke of Newcastle, by Eobert Fenwick, Esq., in 
the year 1664. Perhaps he was the same Eobert Fen- 
wick for whom, upon letters from General Leven, there 
was an order of parliament, February 3rd, 1647, for a 
thousand poimds for his losses and good affections. But 
he did not long enjoy his purchase ; on the Eestoration 
of king Charles II, in 1660, it went back to the bishop 
of Durham. 

The men of Bedlingtgn always evinced great readi- 
ness to fight the battles of their coimtry, either on sea 
or land. During the great war England waged with 
Napoleon many young men of the village enlisted into 
the army, and served in the Peninsular war. Old WiD. 



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BEDLINGTON. 211 

Oorby the sexton, had four of his sons engaged in that 
conflict. Thomas was in the gallant 42nd, or Highland 
"Watch, and with Sir John Moore in his celebrated 
retreat to Conmna. Alison, in his account of the battle 
of Corunna, says of the 42nd, " But Moore was at hand 
to repair the disorder* Instantly addressing the 42nd 
regiment with the animating words, * Highlanders, re- 
member Egypt !" and bringing up a batallion of the 
Guards to its support, he again led them forward to the 
charge. The shock was irresistible ; borne back at the 
point of the bayonet the enemy were again driven into 
Elvira, from whence after a desperate struggle they 
were finally expelled with great slaughter. In this 
decisive conflict, however. Sir John Moore received a 
mortal wound." Thomas continued to serve with 
"Wellington till at Burgos, where he received a wound 
of which he died. George also served in most of the 
Spanish campaigns without injury; after the peace he 
was sent with his regiment to the West Indies, where 
he remained his appointed time, but on his passage 
home sickened and died. Robert was in the 2nd Foot, 
or Queen's regiment; he was also with Sir John Moore 
in his retreat to Corunna, keeping his place in the march 
tiU Corunna was reached, but the last stage in that 
terrible night march from Lugo broke him down. The 
night was cold and tempestuous ; a severe storm of wind 
and rain, mixed with sleet, burst upon the troops, and 
he died through sheer fatigue. George Eutter was in 
the 2nd with Eobert Corby, and outlived that terrible 
night, and took his place in the battle which followed ; 
he was a remarkably hardy man, and served through 

?2 

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212 EI8T0RT OF BLTTH. 

the whole of the war, never having had a day's sickness* 
William was also in the army, but his health failing he 
was discharged; he was the only one of the Corby s who 
lived to return to his native village* !Ralph Charlton 
was in the 3rd, or Scotch Fusilier Gxiards, in the Wal- 
oheren expedition, and afterwards served in the south of 
Spain, where he fought at the battle of Barossa imder 
Sir Thomas Gh:uham, but his health failing he was put 
into a veteran batallion. 

Our chief object in giving the above names and facts 
has been to do honour to a family which did and suffered 
80 much in defending old England against the most 
powerful and inveterate foe she ever had. Will Corby 
had a fifth son, John, who, but for the misfortune of 
losing a leg in his youth, would have certainly been a 
soldier too. He was never heard to regret the loss of 
his limb, except on the ground that it prevented him 
entering the army. John, however, was a servant of 
the public, but he served in the church. In the Blyth 
OleaneTytoT 1819, are the following verses on John Corby, 
late sexton at Bedlington, who died January 11th, 1819. 

Here Gorb^ lies in his last sleep, 

Grave-digging was his occapation, 
Or ring the bell, or church to sweep, 

Or dust the pews npon occasion. 
Lame of an arm, and but one leg, 

Some charity Jack was deserving; 
He was too bashful for to beg, 

He rather did prefer half starving. 
His speech and manners were uncouth. 

But firm and staunch upon occasion, 
He always bluntly spoke the truth, 

Without the smallest deviation. 
To hunt the fox was his delight. 

To get sly reynard in his clutches, 
He stopt the fox- holes in the night, 

All day he hunted on his crutches. 



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BEDLINQTON. 213 

Whenever the fox was in full view. 
No footman with Jack could keep stitches, 

So swift he on his crutches flew, 
And sprang quite over dykes and ditches. 

Sat now his sporting is all past. 

We trust his faults are all forgiven, 
*Tis hoped he will meet with at last, 

All honest sportsmen safe in heaven. 

The splendid seam of coal that underlies the whole 
shire was scarcely touched till within the last forty years. 
There is no mention of coal mines in the shire at the 
time of the compilation of the Boldon Bute, but bishop 
Pudsey, about that period, gave to the monks at New- 
minster the salt pans Upon the Blyth, in Bedliogtonshire, 
and the water and fisheries there. In 1556 Newminster 
had in Blyth-nook, firma septum saliiiarum, cum uno 
garnar et miner carbonum, rent £14. This would be at 
what is now called the High Pans. In 1635, the jury 
of Bedlington, in a list of the bishop's rights say, " there 
is only one coal pit wherein coals are wrought, and two 
other pits sunk but no coal as yet, rent received for the 
ooUiery was £2." In 1693 a lease was granted to 
Edward Arden, Esq., of the coal mines opened, and to 
be opened, within the lordship of Bedlingtonshire, with 
wayleave; 21 years at 40s. per annimi, and 40s. per 
annum for every new pit. Way-leave points to the 
coals beii^g shipped. There was at the beginning of 
this century a small colliery at Bedlington, the coal 
from which w£^s sent to the staith quay, below the iron 
works, and there put into keels and sent down to Blyth, 
where they were shipped just off the ferry boat landing. 
Netherton colliery was sunk in 1818, and since that 
time the Bedlington coal company have brought into 



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214 , HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

operation their large concern at Bedlington, Barrington, 
and West Sleekbum. The former operation of the iron 
works we noticed in our account of Blyth ; they were 
lately resumed by Messrs. Mounsey and Co., who did a 
large business, but are again dosed. The former 
industrial occupations of Bedlington were naihnaking 
and weaving ; about sixty years since Edward Charl- 
ton employed 20 naU-makers; William and Henry 
Smith, 14 ; and William Kirkup about 12 ; but the 
trade has gradually declined, and now Mr. Jas. Gibson 
is the only master nail-maker. For centuries weaving 
had been carried on in the village ; and till within the 
memory of the present generation, it was considered an 
indispensible female accomplishment to be able to spin 
with the little wheel, and in the country parts most fe- 
males couldmanage the big wheel — ^the latter to spin wool, 
the former tow. The first top-coat worn by the writer 
was of his grandmother's spinning. It was matter of 
great pride with the thrifty housewives of former days 
to possess a large stock of linen of their own spinning. 
In the inventory, 1590, of Elinor Widdrington, of 
Choppington, widow of a scion of the great house of 
Widdrington, who farmed there, she had " four score 
pairs of sheets, valued at £40," though there was only 
three bedsteads and four pairs of blankets in the house. 
It is still in the recollection of some old people that 
there were from ten to twelve weaving establishments in 
the village, one of which, Graham's, kept five men em- 
ployed. But the factory system has entirely set aside 
domestic spinning and village weavers. The parish of 
Bedlington, which contains 9,011 acres, is rapidly rising 



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BEDLINOTON. 215 

in value and population : in 1801 it was 1,422 ; in 1861 
it had risen to 8,300. 

Cambois is a small seaport village, and seat of a 
township. A great export of com and grindstones from 
the high and low quays, and a considerable import of 
Norway timber and deals, and of limestone from Bead- 
nel and Sunderland in boats, was carried on when 
Stephen Watson, Esq., of North Seaton was conducting 
his commercial enterprises with great spirit and success : 
he was a man of considerable note in his day, and lived 
to a great age, long known as old Justice Watson. 
Much of this trade continued during the war with the 
republic of France and Napoleon ; but about the peace 
it gradually declined, and for many years seldom a sail 
entered the port ; but since North Seaton colliery has 
been opened a few small vessels have been loading 
coal there. The chapel of Cambois was in existence 
in 1204, for in that year it was confirmed to the 
monks of Durham, by King John, as a member of the 
church of Bedlington. Hodgson says of the chapel, 
" The bam which contains the thrashing mill of the farm 
premises is by some thought to have been a chapel ; but 
as it has a large fire-place in the north wall I imagine 
it was the manor house of the Denum family. In 
its south wall there is a trefoil window of one light, and 
of a shape corresponding with the architecture of the 
14th century ; it is said that the chapel stood on a green 
mound, between the sea and the old mansion house, 
now called the chapel hill, which very much resembles 
a tumulus of the ages before Christianity." Becent 
explorations prove that Hodgson's conjecture respecting 



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216 HISTORY OF BLTTH. 

the tumulus was correct, for in lowering the mound in 
1861 human remains were foimd, which from their 
position, showed they had been interred in pagan-saxon 
times, at least twelve hundred years ago. In 1350 
Ealph de Ellyngeham possessed an estate of part of this 
manor, and a fishery in the " "Wanspik" at a rent of 
17s. 6d. a year. Some of the proprietors of the fishery 
at that period had a coble for fishing in the main sea, 
of the value of 10s. a year. 

Ralph, Earl of Westmoreland, died May 21st, 1426, 
possessing among other things the manor of Cambois. 
The inquest states that the tenant of " Cambhouse" at 
that time paid for it to the bishop a rent of £4 19s. a 
year, and did suit at the lord's court at Bedlington; 
ground his com growing upon the manor at the lord's 
mill, to the sixteenth measure ; had within it the site of 
a manor then waste, and of no value ; but that there 
were four messuages and six bovates of arable land, 
worth beyond reprizes 40s.; twenty acres of meadow, 
worth 20s.; and one himdred acres of pasture, worth 
16s. 4d. The Lawsons afterwards became owners of the 
estate. In 1626, Henry Lawson, Esq., sold the manor 
of Cambois to Andrew Young, Esq. The Bidley family 
have been in possession of it for many years. The duke 
of Portland, as heir of the Ogles, had a thirty-second 
part of it, which he sold to the late Sir M. W. Eidley ; 
and Mr. Robert Briggs, by purchase, became owner of 
a sixty-fourth part of it, which his son William subse- 
quently sold to the Sddleys, who are now the sole 
proprietors of the township. 

The new winning of the Cowpen Coal Company close 



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BEDLINOTON. 217 

to the village, has broken the quiet of centuries. On the 
links a great number of houses has been erected, and are 
occupied by a busy population. The Colliery is in full 
operation, being fitted up with the latest and most ap- 
proved appliances for raising coal and pumping the 
water. Indeed, the machinery connected with the 
workings is something remarkable. The winding 
engine is a double cylinder, 36 inches in diameter, and 
6 feet stroke, with a drum of 25 feet. The time occu- 
pied in running up or down, and changing four tubs, is 
fifty seconds. This powerftd engine is capable of raising 
1,400 tons of coals in twelve hours, besides affording 
ingress and egress to the workmen. The pumping 
engine is below ground near the shaft. It is a 48-inch 
cylinder, with 4 feet stroke, and is supplied by four 
boilers. The water is raised 48 feet from the standage 
by the back-end piston rod, by means of a crank motion, 
into a cistern ; and from thence is forced to bank by a 
double-acting set of force pumps, with rams ten inches 
in diameter. Both the rams have the same stroke as 
the engine. The pumps are twelve inches in diameter. 
They are assisted by an air-vessel at the bottom, thirty 
feet by two feet six inches in diameter, supplied by a 
small piunp. The engine pumps about twenty-five 
gallons each stroke. The nominal power of this engine 
is 235 horses, and it runs between twenty and thirty 
strokes per minute. The actual horse power is 106-84, 
The lowest pressure at which the engine works is 271bs, 
The quantity of water pumped is 300 gallons per 
minute, and it is forced up 250 yards in one vertical 
column. A railway has been made from the pit to tha 



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218 



SI&TORY OF BLYTH. 



link-end, where the coals axe put on board the vessels 
with the greatest facility. At one of the staiths screw 
colliers can take in coals from two spouts simultaneously. 
The first shipment of Cambois coals took place 27th of 
June, 1867. 




J 



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APPENDIX. 



CHEONOLOGIOAL SUMMAET. 



Tif^IIE following is a Bnmmaiy, in chronological order 



of events which will be interesting to the major- 
ity of the readers of this book, though for sundry reasons 
they have not been incorporated in the body of the 
work. 

1673. During a great storm on the 18th January, 
thirty-nine ships were cast away on the Northumberland 
coast. 

1723. Admiral George Delaval, of Seaton Delaval, 
met his death in the month of Jime, by a fall from an 
unruly horse, as he was riding out after dinner up the 
avenue, not far from his house. His death occurred 
shortly after he had finished the building of the beauti- 
ful HaU. 

1739. On the 4th of September, Michael Curry, for 
the murder of Robert Shevil, was executed at the West- 
gate, Newcastle. The murder was committed in one of 
the rooms of the Three Horse Shoes Intiy Hartley, of 
which Shevil was the landlord. Before his execution, 
Curry delivered a written confession to the chaplain, in 
which he admitted himself guilty of the murder, but 
denied that Shevil's wife had urged him to it. His 
body was taken from the place of execution direct to 
Hartley, and hung in chains at a point on the coast 
ever after known as "Curry's Point." 

1745. About this time Boca Chica received its out- 



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220 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

landish name. Two seamen belonging to the place liad 
Bended on board a ship-of-war, under Admiral Vernon, 
at the siege of Carthagena, a seaport in Sonth America, 
in 1741. The entrance into the harbour was termed 
Boca Chica (Le.^ little mouth), and was defended by 
several forts, the whole of which were taken by the 
British forces. Those seamen having returned home 
in recounting their exploits at the siege so frequently 
used the words Boca Chica, that one of their companions 
jocularly gave the name to the place of their residence ; 
the new name took with the public, who at once adopted 
it, and to this day Boca Chica has continued to be the 
name of the northern portion of the High Pans. 

1748. In the night of August 28th, thirteen French 
prisoners made their escape from Tynemouth by means 
of a hole which they had dug under the foundations of 
the prison into a garden adjoining. They went direct 
to Cambois, near Blyth, where the first four of them got 
into a boat and made to a sloop lying there laden with 
iron, cut her cable, and went to sea. The sloop was 
afterwards seized at the Brill, and with her cargo of iron 
sent back to her owners. 

1765. Feb. 18th. A cod fish was sold at Blyth to 
Mr. Harbottle, of Bedlington, in the beUy of which was 
found a gold ring. March 5th. A storm of snow attended 
with a strong gale of wind, came on this evening with such 
violence, and continued all night, that not only many 
flocks of sheep were drifted, but several persons lost their 
lives by being exposed to the excessive cold, and the 
severity of the weather. The Plessy railway was drifted 
up, and the labourers employed to clear away the Blyth 
end were allowed driok to the amount of £3 14s. 2d. 

1766. In the last week in September a shipmaster's 
wife at Blyth was delivered of five male children, all 
likely to live. — Chatto's Collection. 



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APPENDIX. 221 

1767. Was thrown upon the sands at Blyth a very 
rare fish, weighing from 70 to 801bs., shaped like the 
sea-bream; the length was three and a half feet, the 
breadth from back to belly almost two feet, and the 
thickness from side to side not above six inches* A long 
and minute description of it is given in Grilhespie^s. 

1770. About this date a murder was committed on 
Blyth Links. Mr. Mason, an officer of customs, had 
been to Newcastle for a month's pay of the customs 
establishment here. He had to perform the journey on 
foot, and having reached the link house on his return, 
he went into the public house there to rest himself and 
get some refreshment. He there found two men of the 
name of Ross, father and son, staymakers in Blyth. 
They left before Mason : he shortly followed, and was 
never more seen alive. From the time of Mason being 
missed it was suspected that these men had robbed and 
murdered him, but the body could not be discovered. 
More than 20 years after, the remains were found on 
the links, opposite Pulley's Grate, between the first and 
far link houses. The discovery was made by some ladfl 
who were jumping on the liTika and, displacing some 
sandy soil, exposed to view the remains of a human 
body. A pair of silver shoe buckles and some buttons 
were foimd, of a peculiar make, and of a kind known to 
have been on the coat of Mason, and so identifying the 
remains as those of Mason. Though the murderers 
escaped the gallows, the popular belief was that Provi- 
dence and their guilty consciences punished them worse 
than hanging. Their health declined, poverty overtook 
them, and the people always treated them as guilty 
beings unfit for hmnan society. 

1776. Jan. 26. In the evening a heavy fall of snow 
<^me on and continued without cessation all that night 
and the next day ; the snow, by the strong gale that 



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222 m STORY OF BLYTH. 

was raging, was thrown into sucli immense drifts on the 
high roads as to render most of them impassable. The 
frost became so intense that all the rivers were frozen. 
Many persons on the various roads perished. Two 
farmers, going from Newcastle to their home near 
Earsdon, were lost on Killingworth Moor ; their horses 
were found the next day. January 29. — Some hundreds 
of men were employed in clearing the roads ; those so 
engaged near Morpeth foimd a horse, with a saddle, 
dead in the snow. 

1799. April 18th. Matthew W. Eidley (the late 
Sir M. W. Eidley) attained his 21st year. The day 
was celebrated with unusual glee at Blyth. A grand 
dinner was given to the principal inhabitants ; and in 
the evening there was a general illimiination. June 
7th. During a dreadful thunder storm which occurred 
on this day the electric fluid struck the house of 
Mr. Timothy Duxfield, farmer, opposite the "WiUow 
Tree," Newsham. Mrs. D. was killed; and her 
daughter Margaret was so much injured that she 
never regained her health, and died on the same day 
five years afterwards. 

1800. January. In this month no less than 69 out 
of 71 coal-laden vessels were wrecked on their passage 
from the northern ports to London. One of these was 
the Peggy ^ William Taylor, master. The vessel sailed 
from Seaton Sluice on New Year's day, and foundered 
with all her crew. The master was the son of Robert 
Taylor, who was foreman to Mr. Hannay for many years. 
Matthew Hunter, uncle to the writer, was one of 
the crew. 

1803. January 8-10. There was a tremendous 
fitorm with the wind at east, which did a great deal of 
damage to the shipping on the coasts of Northumberland 
and Durham. 



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APPENDIX. 223 

1804. A brig named the Mediator^ belonging to Mr. 
Bates, took fire at Cowpen Quay, and burnt to the 
water's edge. 

1805. August 16. Thomas Clare, a private in the 
Staflfordshire militia, was executed at the Westgate, 
Newcastle, for the murder of William Todd, of Hartley, 
which was committed duriftg the time the regiment was 
encamped on Whitley links. (Dec. 5,) Thanksgiving 
day for the victory of Trafalgar. 

1806. April 14, 15. Hard gale of wind from N.E. 
with sharp frost, and heavy fall of snow. (Dec. 25,) A 
furious storm of wind from the west, accompanied with 
rain, which increased to a hurricane. Beside other damage 
it blew down the northernmost house in Bath terrace. 

1808. May 17. Died at Seaton Delaval, John, Lord 
Delaval, aged 80 years. The corpse was taken to Lon- 
don in great funeral pomp. The last of the Delavals 
who resided at the Hall. August. The John and Betsy y 
Geo. Norris, master, foundered with all hands in a 
heavy N.E. gale. 

1809. October 8. This day, John Storey, officer of 
customs, Cambois, had been to sea fishing, and on his 
return at nightfall two of his daughters went to the 
IftTifliTig place to meet him — ^the eldest to help her 
father to moor the boat, and the yoimgest to carry a 
light. The light suddenly disappearing the elder went 
to ascertain the cause ; neither of the daughters return- 
ing, the father went in search of them, and to his horror 
discovered that both had fallen into the river and were 
drowned. The father was so overpowered with grief at 
the loss of these two children, that he forgot the duty 
which he owed to his wife and six remaining children, 
and in a fit of despondency on the 25th he terminated 
his life by casting himself into the river. The ages of 
the two daughters were respectively 22 and 11 years. 



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224 mSTORY OF BLYTS. 

1810* This winter, while the ships were laid up, the 
EcUpsBj belongiQg to John and Mark Marshall, took 
fire and was greatly damaged. She was repaired, but 
in the spring of 1817 was lost with all hands, on her 
passage to Hamburgh. October. On the day after the 
celebration of the jubilee of G-eorge III, TheUagkf Cuth- 
bert Gibson, sailed from Blyth ; bad weather came on, and 
she foundered with all her crew ; GKbson's eldest son was 
with him. Mr. Gibson was esteemed one of the cleverest 
masters belonging to the port at that period. 

1811. January 3rd. Died, at Blyth, Mrs. Blakey, 
aged 104 years. 

1813. February. The brig Juno, James Gray, 
master, while lying at the spout below the keel dock, 
took fire. A recent snow storm having covered the 
ground to a considerable depth, a number of men went 
to work and shovelled the snow into the burning ship, 
and after a time succeeded in extinguishing the fire, but 
not until the affcer part of the vessel had been nearly 
destroyed. April 16. Died at his house in Portland 
place, London, Sir Matthew White Ridley, Baronet, of 
Blagdon. He represented Newcastle in eight successive 
parhaments. 

1814. January 16. An intense frost set in which 
froze up all the rivers. Large quantities of snow 
fell, and the frost did not break up till the 6th of 
February. 

1816. The Robert and Sarah, belonging to Edward 
Watson, sailed at the close of the seamen's great strike, 
but never reached her destination. How 3ie was lost 
was never ascertained. John Watson, brother of the 
owner, and William, the eldest son of William Clark, 
were with the rest of the crew all lost. 

1817. June. The first number of the Blyth Gleaner 
was published. 



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APPENDIX 225 

1819. January 28. Dimng a heavy gale from the 
east the Ruhy^ of North Shields, was driven on shore on 
Blyth sands. On the same day the Betsp, of South 
Shields, was shattered to pieces, and part of her driven 
on Blyth sands — crew perished. 

1820. February. The brig Minerva, John Taylor 
master, being caught in a gale of wind in her upward 
passage ran for shelter to the Huniber, on taking which 
she grounded on the Stony Binks, and soon went to 
pieces ; the crew all perished. November 20. Blyth 
was illuminated, and other demonstrations of joy 
took place, on the House of Lords staying proceed- 
ings against Queen Caroline, consort of George the 
4th. 

1822. January 3. A fire took place at Seaton 
Delaval which in a few hours consumed the mansion 
house, which for grandeur and magnificence was un- 
epualled in the North of England. This beautifcd 
house was built for Admiral Delaval about the begin- 
ning of the last century by Sir John Vanburgh. Aug. 8, 
A large whale of the spermaceti kind came ashore at 
Line Bum. It measured 61 feet in length, and 37 feet 
in circumference. It yielded 9 tuns (158 gallons) of 
oil. This valuable fish having become a matter of dis- 
pute between two great landowners, the affair was ended 
by the Admiralty seizing it as a droit of the crown. 
Before it was cut up the curious flocked from all parts 
to view it, the people of Blyth going in hundreds, and 
all being gratified at having the opportimity of looking- 
upon so mighty an inhabitant of the deep. 

1823. February 2. During a severe gale of wind, 
accompanied by a dreadful snow storm, the Nadir, of 
Rochester, was lost upon Blyth rocks, and the Sarah, of 
North Shields, upon Newbiggin point, both crews being 
lost. The snow was drifted into immense heaps, pre- 



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226 HISTORY OF BLTTE. 

venting ordinary business intercourse. The storm 
lasted for six weeks. 

1824. August 10. Died at the FoUy, aged 90, 
William Smith, father of William Smith the discoverer 
of New South Shetland. 

1825. January 15. Died, aged91, Margaret, the widow 
of Joseph Hopper, seaman. For 79 years she lived in 
the same room in Queen's lane. Her maiden name was 
Stoker — ^both the Hopper and Stoker families are extinct. 

1825. February 2. A tremendous hurricane oeettr- 
red during the night, followed next day by an extraor- 
dinarily high tide, which washed down a house next to 
the school room occupied by Mr. Hutchinson, the family 
(John Armstrong's) six in number, narrowly escaping 
drowning. The poor woman of the house had only 
been confined the previous evening. 

1825. September 6. Died at Blyth, Mr. William 
Carr, aged 69 years. July 12, 1826.— Died, aged 82 
years, Elizabeth Collier, sister of William Carr. 

1827. January 14. The brig Eedbreast, Edward 
Swan, foimdered with all hands off Flambro' Head. 

1828. September 9. This being the day on which 
Matthew White Eidley, Esq. (the present Baronet) 
attained his 21st year, at Blyth all business was sus- 
pended, and the gentlemen of the place, with the masters 
of ships in the harbour, dined together in celebration of 
the event. All the workmen at Cowpen colliery and 
Blyth employed by Sir M. W. Eidley, were liberally 
regaled, nor were the sailors in port forgotten. 

1829. October 13. In a strong gale many ships 
were wrecked upon the coast. The sea was heavier at 
Blyth than had been known for 20 years. It, however, 
did but trifling damage, though at one time the houses 
on Cowpen Quay were in danger of being inundated, 
owing to the dyke giving way. 



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APPENDIX, 227 

1831.^ April 18. A body of from 1200 to 1500 pit- 
men visited the collieries in the neighbourhood of Blyth 
and Bedlington, where they laid the pits off work — 
threatening to set fire to them if their orders were not 
immediately compKed with. They also emptied the 
larder and cellar of the manager of Cowpen colliery. 
This was at the commencement of the Great Sirike, and 
when coUiers had great faith in physical force. 

1832. May. Blyth at this time partook of the in- 
tense political excitement which prevailed throughout 
the nation, in consequence of the rejection of the Reform 
Bill by the House of Lords. Aji immense open-air 
meeting was held on the links omder the presidency of 
Matthew White Eidley, Esq., who was supported by the 
chief men of the town, when resolutions were unani- 
mously carried, demanding " The BiU, the whole Bill, 
and nothing but the bSi." The Cholera Morbus, 
which made its appearance at Sunderland, in 1831, and 
Hartley where it was fatal in December, did not reach 
Blyth till the autumn of 1832. Peggy Lamb, a widow 
residing in Church street, was the first victim, and a 
day or two after Andrew Steel, a roper, died. It then 
spread with fearful rapidity, and before it subsided some 
eighty persons fell victims to the mysterious scourge. 

1833. September 1. The schooner Johriy John 
Morrison, master, shortly after leaving Blyth encount- 
ered the tremendous gale that commenced on that day, 
during which she was lost with all hands on one of the 
sands south of the Humber. Oct. 31, The brig Dorothy^ 
William Tumbull, master, was lost with all hands on 
her passage from Londonderry to London. Mr. Tum- 
bull was far advanced in life, and had been a shipmaster 
for very many years. 

1834. April 16. Died at Bedlington, aged 104 
years, Mrs. Mary Gf^allon. 

q2 

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2?§ EISTOfi^^ OF BLTTE. 

.1835. . Noy, ,9r A gqlden eagle was shot near Blyth 
bi^ !iyjj. I)6im It was 2ift. long, 

dhd'its'"wluigs iieakar^d ^ii, from tip to tip. 

1S36: July La t)i^a, in Ms 58th year, Sir M. W. 
Eidlcyj Bai^oiietj M. P. for Ne\vcastle. At the general 
elecUon in 1812, on th^ xetireiuunt of his father, he was 

Sileoted a teptesGi^tativo for Newcastle. He sat during 
ight successive parliaments^ and for a period of twenty- 
five years; - -Feb, l7, A ti-emendous hurricane from the 
N.E, was experieTiced on the east coast. At Hartlepool 
the BGa rosfi sor^^ii feet ahove the highest tide mark pre- 
vioiisly recordbd. A great number of vessels were 
lyxeckedan along the Coast, The Mars^ William Eob- 
ii.BOii/xhastGrj Vaa driven on the shoals off Wells, 
on the Norfolk coast. Slie went to pieces, and the 
wljLolia yf her crew were , dro\VDed, the people on shore 
bemgwdble' to render any help. Deo. 23, A fall of 
^bW ^jOtnpenced about mid-day, and continued without 
iatemiissibii' till the morning of the 26th, by which time 
a prodirfous ijU/intity had accumulated, exceeding any- 
thi^i^ seen in tile district since. The mails were greatly 
itupeded* '. ' 

'' 1837. SeptemljiBr, About the middle of this month 
a iWan' named Tboinsia Holbom, 91 years of age, an in- 
mrvtb of 13,edlington workhouse, and who had been 
colli jvletely bii»d for 12 ycai^s, had his sight suddenly 
restored.while sitting at dinner, 

' ^J(83iS.' ' January 8, r The first snow of the winter fell 
tills dayl' and the storm eiintinued almost without inter- 
mission till the end of the month. On the 14th and 
I5ih the fcost becamo intonse; in Fome situations the 
thelTiLoinGter i\^as observed at '2d degrees below freezing. 
All ilie rivers' tn. tlie diatiiot were frozen, nor did the 
fropjb completely bre^^p.till the beginning of March. 
^ 183i9. Janiiaty 7. Thid north of England was visited 



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APPENhM, 



:v\\\ 



by one of the most tremendoiis' imric^es eyer experiT 
enced in this country. On tiiG previous evening tke 
barometer fell to 28 inches, anc^ &QDn i^eir |Zu^diiigjL^,^ 
wind shifted from S* to W^^. ^^^^ i^aii^^^ftT 
increased in fury till about eifflit iu'tlie iiojmiifi, Wheii 
its Yioience was ingntrul, aiid immeas&j qi>miige, ^y^f 
done in all directions. The ropery op Ji^^ ImkBJwia 
entirely destroyed, garden fences were' lc>:t)[le(l^|7|jcj[d 
buildings injured. The Btoiin ^gan to a^ate aj|jpii^ 
two o'clock, and in the evening there /^i^b .a Qo^i^^ 
able fall of snow, with frost. April 2^ist,^ W liile s<^me 
workmen were sawing up an Amencaia o^Jfree ,^ 
Blyth dock, they found a livinj^ toad in tlie middle of tii^ 
solid timber, about eleTen feet from the root* Aug"* I^i 
This being the day appointed for t]ie cpmmencomeot: of 
the " sacred month^^ some anxLety waa manj^fested as t^ 
the results. Chartism had many ai^dbnt friends amoi^g 
the workmen of Cowpen eolUery^ and if confideiicBiWfts 
to be placed in thefr declared iiiientipfls, an oufbiB^^ 
was imminent. The 98th regimeut, comriianded by th^ 
gallant Sir Colin Campbell, was dispatched to Seghill, 
Oramlington, and Cowpen square. When , news oflhi^ 
soldiers' approach reached the gquarej tl;g Clfjirtifi^ia "^^^^j^ 
discreetly concluded that their best cbiuse^as fp.Tetri&aii 
so they with great speed placed thein3,et™ anii th^ir 
boats on the north side of the river J The ^oldiertj jsur- 
rounded the square, and made search for armsj but did 
not find any. When the decisive moment had arrived 
physical force was found to to oii the sx4e of law and 
order. After this exhibition of military poweir l|t^^ ^ej^y 
tire system of agitation suddenly coUapBed,,^: ,\ \ ' r 

1840. January 29. Died at Bedlingtoh, aged .1^0 
years, Mary Lorimer. She was at service at Morpett 
during the rebellion of 1745, and perfectly leiyemljered 
the terror inspired by it Not. 31^ The brig liardwick^ 



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230 BISTORT OF BLTTH. 

Ealph Ferguson, sailed from Blyth, and foundered with 
all her crew. 

1841. March 15. As five men were repairing the 
shaft of Cowpen North Pit, a fall of old materials from 
the sides took place, which descending upon the cradle 
in which the men were suspended, precipitated four of 
them to the bottom of the shaft, killing them on the 
spot. The other man caught hold of some timber at- 
tached to the side of the shaft, and escaped. Those who 
were killed were — James Eeay, Joseph Wright, Stephen 
Heron, and Francis Reay. William Heron was saved. 

1843. February 3. A most disastrous storm arose 
this evening, and continued all night doing great da- 
mage. Two vessels, the Blucher and the Rob Roy were 
driven on shore at Newbiggin, and every soul on board 
of thein perished. During the hurricane the Rochester 
Castle^ belonging to Mr. Henry Debord, broke from her 
moorings and drove swiftly down the harbour on to the 
sands, where she fell over and was speedily a wreck. 
The Malvina, Francis Ghray, also foundered with aU 
hands, during this storm. 

1844. February 23. This day a strong easterly 
gale, accompanied by a heavy fall of snow, commenced, 
and continued with unabated severity imtil the 26th. 
The roads were in many places blocked up, and at sea 
the loss of life and property was very great. 

1845. January 26. The Brothock, George Cooper, 
master, during a heavy gale was driven on one of the 
sands oflf Yarmouth, when the entire crew were lost, 
together with seven men of a boat's crew that had gone 
to their assistance. November, Mr. Chapman, M. P., 
and Captain Washington, two of the commissioners ap- 
pointed to inquire into the state of the tidal rivers of the 
United Kingdom, held a court at Blyth on the business 
of their inquiry. 



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APPENDIX, 231 

1846. Maxoh 10. A prize fight came off on Blyth 
links between William Grieghom and Michael Eiley 
which continued for two hours and a half, and resulted 
in Grieghom being declared the victor. At the close 
of the fight Eiley became insensible; he was put into 
a coach and conveyed to the Ridley Arms, where 
he expired at two o'clock next morning. Grieg- 
hom was tried at the following assizes, and found 
guilty on the charge of manslaughter. Justice Cress- 
well in passing sentence said, " I can fancy nothing 
more degrading, nor disgraceful, than that two men 
should come together, either- for money or the applause 
they are to gain jfrom bystanders, to go and beat each 
other as long as they can stand up. But I look on 
those who are engaged in it as far less criminal than 
those whe excite them to it. They are made the tools of 
others, and if I had before me any of those who could 
be proved to have promoted this fight, I should have 
shown by the sentence I should have passed upon them, 
how very great and serious an offence they have com- 
mitted." GHegom was sentenced to six months' 
imprisonment. The disgrace of this brutal encounter in 
no way belonged to Blyth. The parties who made the 
match, as well as the pugilists, belonged to Newcastle, 
and Blyth was resorted to because they knew there 
were no effectual means at hand for preventing the 
encounter. June 1st, Died, aged 84 years, the Eev. W* 
Eobertson, having been about 40 years minister of 
Ebenezer Chapel. September 9th, A second cargo of 
Netherton coals was dispatched from Blyth in the brig 
Como, for the use of Her Majesty's establishment, 
Osborne House. Nov. 20th, The brig Sceptre was 
wrecked at the entrance of Shields harbour, and the 
master, Emerson Euddock, drowned. Dec. 12th, One 
of the greatest snow storms which has occurred during 



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232 HISTORY OF BLYTE. 

the present eentuiy, commenced this morning. On the 
13th no passenger train was able to leave Newcastle ; 
on the 14th, by the employment of a great number of 
men, the lines were cleared, and though the storm con- 
tinued the trains were got through on the morning of 
the 15th; after which the traffic was entirely suspended 
through the increased violence of the storm. The 
Blyth coaches were stopped for some days. On the 
14th, the Tyne below Newcastle bridge was frozen over, 
and at Shields the ferry frequently occupied from two 
to three hours in crossing. At Newton-on-the-moor, 
the Magnet coach, with the mails, was buried 14 feet 
deep, and at many places on the roads the drifts were 
20 feet deep, while out-door employment was completely 
suspended; but a thaw fortunately set in on the 18th, 
and the snow gradually disappeared. 

1847. In the spring of this year an exciting race took 

J lace between two of our crack ships : the Honour, capt. 
ames Heatley, and the Blyth, capt. Thomas Gibson. 
The Honour was built at the Dock in 1843 ; and from 
the first gaiued the reputation of being one of the fastest 
sailers along the coast ; having not only outsailed the 
best ships out of Blyth, but had successfully competed 
with the fastest vessels then sailing out of the Tyne. 
In 1846, Bowman and Drununond built the Blyth, 
which was expected to be a match for the Honour, An 
opportimity soon presented itself for bringing their 
comparative swiftness to a trial. In Feb. as above, both 
the brigs were loading for London, when it was ag^ed 
they should run a race from Blyth to Ghravesend. They 
left port together, and proceeded in company, without 
either ship gaining on the other, to Flambro' Head ; 
they then separated, taking different courses. They 
sighted each other again off Cromer, the Blyth being a 
short distance a-head, which position she kept until the 



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APPENDIX. 233 

Newarp was passed, when the Sbwowr took the lead, and 
kept it, at varying distances, till she arrived at Ghraves- 
end ; the Honour winning the race by less than a mile. 
The weather was fine, and the wind favourable, during 
the run, which lasted 48 hours. There was a large fleet 
on the coast proceeding southward ; and as the racers 
came up to and passed these ships, the seamen perceived 
there was a race in progress ; and the match being so 
equal gave extraordinary interest to the scene ; and the 
interest and excitement spread and increased to the end 
of the race. It created equal excitement at Blyth — ^the 
event being looked upon as a sort of Nautical Derby. 
This race did as much credit to the port by the seaman- 
ship displayed on the occasion, as by the speed of the 
vessels. Both masters were able energetic seamen, and 
both were well seconded. The mate of the Honour was 
Mr. James Stephenson, afterwards well known as master 
of the G-uadiana; and Mr. Thomas Armstrong, ship- 
owner, Waterloo, was then mate of the Blyth. 

1848. Jan. 30, George Grardiner died, at a great age, 
near 90 ; was a native of Scotland ; for many years the 
town crier — and a very strange character. Nov. 19, 
Blji^h has been again visited by cholera ; six or seven 
persons having died within three weeks. 

1849. Oct 28, Gheorge Hunter, a collier at Cowpen 
colliery, was attacked this evening whilst returning 
home, by two men, and injured so severely that he 
died on the following day. The murderers were 
not discovered. Dec. 13, the brig Sylph, J. Short, 
master, on her passage from Dantzio to Ghlo'ster, was 
wrecked near ShapinsHa, one of the Orkney islands. 
The crew, consisting of eight, were all drowned. 

1850. Monday, June 27th, no fewer than 21 French 
vessels entered inwards, and 24 outwards, at the Blyth 
custom house, from and to foreign ports. 



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234 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

1851. Sept. 26, a severe gale of wind from the N.E. 
arose this day. Great losses occurred amongst the ship- 
ping on the coast. Two Blyth vessels with their crews 
were lost during the gale : the Seafloiver^ Wm. Jobling, 
and the Pomona, Robert Tynemouth. T3niemouth'8 
wife and two children were lost with him. A large seal 
was also shot in Blyth river, being the second this year. 

1852. Aug. 21, at this time one of the largest shoals 
of herrings ever known was off the coast of Northum- 
berland ; and 400,000 fish were caught this morning by 
the fishermen of Newbiggin alone. Oct. 24, married at 
Earsdon, Benjamin Lee to Isabella Baxter. The pair 
were both upwards of 73 years of age, and this was the 
bride's ninth appearance at the altar. The happy pair 
resided at Cowpen Quay. Nov. 12, the shops in Blyth 
were lighted with gas for the first time. Dec. 25th, a 
destructive hurricane from the S.W. arose, and kept in- 
creasing in intensity until the morning of the 27th, when 
its force was scarcely below the great tornado of 1839. 
Amongst its destructive effects at sea was the foundering 
of the Salamander,^ o\m Turner, of Blyth, and the Maria, 
William Sibetson, of Hartley. The crews of both ships* 
were all lost, except one man belonging the Maria. 

1853. February 18, one of the greatest falls of snow 
which had occurred for many years began on the 11th, 
and continued with little intermission during the ensu- 
ing week. The roads became quite impassable. Several 
lives were lost : among these was James Laidler, foimd 
dead on Blyth Links. Mar. 24, one of our fishing boats 
called the Dean Swift was capsized at sea, and the crew, 
named Armstrong, Dixon, and Foggin, were drowned. 
Oct 4, the Marys 8f Anns, Thomas Cowans, master, was 
wrecked in Carnarvon Bay. Four of the crew perished. 
Oct., the cholera again visited Blyth, and proved fatal 
to about 20 ; John Tully, innkeeper, being the last case. 



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APPENDIX. 235 

1854. Feb. 24, tlie Union Packet^ Isaac Parkinson, 
master, was wrecked on the French coast — crew lost. 
July 17, died, at Bedlington, Mr. Thomas Hair. The 
deceased, though without sight, was an exquisite per- 
former upon the Northumberland pipes, and the violin ; 
and was widely known and respected. Oct., extensive 
works for the purpose of giving the town a pure and 
plentiful supply of water, undertaken by Sir Matt. W. 
Bidley, were brought into successful operation, superse- 
ding the bringing of water to the town by carts, and 
the yet more primitive mode of females carrying water 
on their heads in skeels from the " far pit," — the almost 
imiversal prJictice 60 years ago. Nov., a meeting of 
rate-payers agreed to light the streets with gas. 

1855. Jan. 3, the skeleton of a female was found on 
Blyth Links. It became exposed by the wind having 
carried away a large portion of a sand hill. The 
depth it was found from the surface proved that it had 
been buried a very long time. 

1856. Nov. 10, the Britannia^ Gheorge Smith master, 
was lost, with all hands, on her passage from the Baltic. 

1857. Jan. 9, a fearful storm broke over the north 
east coast of England, causing an immense loss of life 
and property at sea. Three Blyth ships were wrecked, 
and their crews lost. The John Baker ^ Henry Appleby, 
and the Honor^ Benjamin Arkle, were lost near Hartle- 
pool ; and the Epsilon^ David Williams, was driven on 
shore at Dimstanborough Castle. Sept. 22, the Mary 
Anny John Heron master, was wrecked on her passage 
from the Baltic — crew perished. 

1858. Jan. 27, the Central Hall, Waterloo, was 
opened by a grand tea party, followed by an oratorio. 
The large room is 76 feet length in the inside, 37ft. 6in. 
in breadth, and 23ft. high ; is a most beautiful apart- 
ment, and affords ample accommodation for large public 



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236 EI8T0RY OF BLYTH. 

gatherings. It has a convenient platform, and space for 
about 1000 visitors. It cost £1500, raised by shares of 
£1 each. The trustees of the Croft estate gave the site. 

1859. April 16, the William, Thomas Jobling master, 
was lost in the North Sea, on her passage to the Baltic. 
All the crew lost. 

1860. Sept. 26, the annual meeting of the Northern 
Union of Mechanics' Institutions was held at Blyth. 
In the morning the conference of delegates from the 
various institutions took place in the lecture hall of the 
Blyth institute : Sir M. W. Eidley in the chair. After 
the separation of the meeting, the delegates and their 
friends were taken out to sea in the Britannia steamer, 
and were thus shown the new works which had been 
erected for the improvement of the harbour. On land- 
ing, the party proceeded to the Eidley Arms, where 
they had limcheon. The chair was again taken by Sir 
Matthew, supported on the right by Rbt. Ingham, Esq. 
M.P., and on the left by the Hon. H. Gh. LiddeU, M.P. 
The entire proceedings of the day passed off to the 
satisfaction of all the parties concerned. This gathering 
did much for the local institute, by awakening the 
inhabitants to the fact, that the town possessed an 
institution of great value and usefulness, which they 
had not till then properly appreciated. Oct. 4, the Sir 
John RenniSy Alex. Turner, foundered in the North Sea. 
One of the crew, Daniel Andrews, perished. 

1861. March, a New Cemetery, containing about 
three acres, at the cost of £2500, was Opened for the 
burial of the dead. Dec. 5th, the Bishop of Durham 
consecrated the moiety allotted to churchmen, and 
afterwards took luncheon with the burial board at the 
Star and Garter. 

1862. June, at this time there was a Japanese em- 
bassy to this country; and, strange enough, they visited 



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APPENDIX. 237 

North Seaton coUiery. They went down the pit, and 
minutely inspected the engines, and the mode of 
conducting operations in coal mining, with the view of 
improving the way of getting coal in Japan, where coal 
is said to be very plentiful. Jime 12, the 3rd Northum- 
berland Artillery Volunteers were practising blank 
cartridge firing at North Blyth. They had successfully 
fired thirteen rounds ; but as John Manners and John 
Meggison were ramming home the cartridge for tho 
fourteenth round, the gun suddenly exploded; and, 
being in the line of fire, both were instantly killed. 
October, on a Sunday evening a most fearful hurricane 
began. In its course it passed over England, Ireland, 
and Scotland, doing immense damage. The Margaret 
Knight was wrecked at Tory Island, on the coast of 
Ireland. Only the mate and a coloured seaman were 
saved. Nov. 28, Mr. Ranger held a Court in the Hall 
of the Mechanics' Institute, to define a boundary for 
Bljrth, as a preliminary to adopting the Local Govern- 
ment Act. About 9 o'clock at night, a boat contaioing 
five pilots was on the look-out for ships coming into the 
harbour. The night was dark ; a stiff breeze was blow- 
ing from the south, causing a considerable surf to break 
across the bar; and, being ebb tide, the ships were 
taking the bar under a press of canvass. The great 
speed at which the ships were coming in made it a 
hazardous operation to put a pilot on board. In 
attempting to board the Sancho the boat got imder the 
brig's quarter and was capsized, when, unfortunately, 
John Bum, John Hogg, and William Dolmahoy, were 
drowned. Thomas Eedford and William Armstrong, 
with great difficulty, were saved. Dec. 21, a heavy gale 
blew from N. N. E., accompanied by a very high tide, 
flowing over the quay almost its entire length; and the 
sea^ wrnoh arose to a tremendous height^ broke with 



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238 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

great violence against the east pier, and did great da- 
mage to both its stone and wooden sections. 

1863. March 10, great rejoicings took place at Blyth 
in celebration of the marriage of the Prince of Wales. 
The day was kept as a holiday ; flags flaunted from 
most of the houses, &c., and the ships were extremely 
gay. At 12 o'clock a royal salute was fired from the 
new battery at North Blyth : at one o'clock a free din- 
ner of roast beef and plumb pudding, and ale, was given 
to 130 widows and poor persons at the Mechanics' hall: 
a similar treat was given to the poor of Cowpen Quay, 
&c. The Sunday school children walked in procession 
through Cowpen Quay, Waterloo, and Blyth, to the 
Links, where they were regaled with oranges and bims. 
At 8 o'clock there was a grand display of fire works, 
from a platform in Waterloo field. June 20, this day, 
the pupil teachers belonging to the church school, 
Bedlington, went to bathe on Cambois sands, when 
unfortunately two of them were drowned — John Grey 
and Robert Walker. Dec. 7, at this time there was a 
succession of storms raging all over England. The 
John 8f William, Thomas Blacklock master, coal laden ; 
and the Irene, John Rogers master, com laden from the 
Baltic, were out in these storms. Both vessels had 
foundered with their crews, as they were never again 
heard of. 

1864. Feb. 22nd, a storm of snow, with keen^frost. 
Since the year came in there has been more snow than 
for several years past. On the 13th, it blew a perfect 
hurricane from the west — considerable damage was done. 
August 6, the brig Robert and Mary, Stavers, struck on 
Anholt reef during a gale of wind, and became a wreck 
— crew drowned. The master's wife was lost with him. 
September 5, a monster Pic-nic, in connection with the 
Northumberland Miners' Mutual Association^ was held 



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APPENDIX. 239 

on Blytli Links, and drew together many thousands of 
persons of both sexes. A simUar gathering is now held 
annually. The first telegraph office in Bljth was 
opened in October of this year. 

1865. Jan. 15th. The Pocahontas^ Williams, foun- 
dered in the Bay of Biscay — crew lost. February 11th, 
owners of brig Minerva fined £5 for refusing to move 
from the spout after loading, in obedience to the order 
of the harbour master. Mar. 1, died, aged 59, Thomas 
Nicholson, mason, having been clerk in Blyth church 
about 30 years. 22nd, a heavy fall of snow at Blyth. 
Oct. 11th, a Newbiggin coble, laden with mussels from 
the Tees, foundered off Blyth — crew (four hands) lost. 
The brig Harcourt went on shore near St. Abbs' Head, 
when running for the Forth in a gale of wind — one 
man lost. Nov. 11, the barque Constance , W. C. Bergen, 
was wrecked near Windau — the master's son, and three 
others, were drowned. 

1866. Nov. 4, the Guadiana^ James Stephenson, from 
the Baltic, was wrecked on Winterton Eidge, when all 
hands were lost but the mate. The Wild Huntress^ 
about this time was lost with all hands on her passage 
from Archangel. Dec. 17, Mr. E. Briggs, brewer and 
banker, died, aged 57. Dec. while the railway from 
Cambois to the links end was in course of construction 
the skeleton of a tall man was found a little beneath the 
surface, on the links near the High Pans. It was 
supposed that the remains were those of a person 
named Eoss, who suddenly and mysteriously disappeared 
in the year 1808 : he was last seen at the ferry boat 
landing, at the High Pans. It is clear that a murder 
had been committed, and if Eoss was the victim his fate 
would furnish rich material to one of our modem novel 
writers, out of which to construct a sensationel story, 
Eoss having for years been asserting himseK as the 



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240 HISTORY OF BLTTH. 

legal heir to the Cambois estate, on which he had now 
met a violent death, and a secret burial place. 

The most dreadful shipwreck of which we have any 
record in the history of our port, was that of the Ocean 
Queen. That vessel left Eiga Nov. 29, 1866, with a 
cargo of deals for Hartlepool. She was leaky when she 
left, and had not proceeded far when she met with a 
gale of wind directly against her ; she then made so 
much water that the crew were kept constantly at the 
pumps. The gale continuing, and the ship still making 
more water, in spite of aU the efforts of the crew, it was 
detemuned to seek a port. At this time they were 120 
miles from land. Soon after the ship was put before the 
wind she became water-logged, and the crew had to 
take to the masts ; the ship then broached to, and fell 
on her beam ends, with the masts in the water. Two 
of the crew being unable to keep their hold fell into the 
sea and were drowned : the others managed to crawl to 
the side of the ship, where they remaioed tUl the masts 
gave way, and the ship righted again. And here the 
poor fellows without food or shelter were exposed to all 
the rigours of the stormy Baltic in the month of Dec. 
It was twelve days before the ship reached land, and 
two only of the crew were left to tell the sad story, and 
these more dead than alive. The others had one by 
one perished by cold and hunger. A boy survived but 
in a deplorable condition tiU the ship came to the beach, 
but died before his companions reached the shore. The 
survivors were the master John Curry, and Julius 
Folster, a foreigner. Both were dreadfiiUy frost-bitten, 
and it was many months before they could be sent 
home. Folster will be a sad cripple for life, having lost 
both hands and feqt. Mr. Curry, fortunately for him, 
has not suffered so badly. 

1867. May 4th. A new life-boat, presented by the 



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APPENDIX. 241 

Royal National Life-boat Institution, was launched at 
Blyth this day amid great rejoicings. The Boat is a 
beautiful model, measuring 32ft. in length, 3ft. 6in. in 
width, rows 10 oars, and is double-banked. It was 
built from funds raised for the purpose in Manchester. 
The ceremony of presenting the Boat to the Port was 
commenced by the boat, with its crew in red caps, being 
drawn on its carriage through the town by eight horses„ 
gaily decorated with ribbons. The procession marched 
four a-breast, and formed a column over half a mile in 
length ; and it was computed that not less than 8000 
persons were gathered together to witness the interest- 
ing ceremony. The boat was drawn up in front of a 
platform, and Capt. Robertson, of the National Lifeboat 
Society, handed the boat over to the Lifeboat committee. 
The boat (with crew on board) was then launched into 
the river, and named the Salford^ when she was imme- 
diately pulled down to the pier end, accompanied by the 
Newbiggin lifeboat. After the various tests had been 
satisfactorily applied, the Salford was again landed, and 
conveyed to the boat house. June 27, the first shipment 
of coals from the new colliery at Cambois, was made at 
North Blyth, on board the Jay of Yarmouth. Nov. 6, 
the Aln was lost, with all hands, near Ostmahom. 

1868. Feb. 8, the highest tide on record ; 18 J feet at 
Blyth. The low gardens all flooded, and much injured. 
March 3, the Vesper wrecked on Jutland ; the master, 
John Potts, drowned. He had been upwards of 50 
years at sea. March 23, the first screw collier, the 
Weardaky loaded Cambois coals for Havre. Feb. 26, 
James Ogle and Jonathan Woods were killed on board 
the Earl of Sunderland, by a collision with the Triune^ 
off the Humber. Jime 24, collision between a passen- 
ger and coal train near Newsham — 21 persons hurt. 
Compensation to parties injured cost the company above 



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242 HISTORY OF BLTTH. 

£3000. Sept. 12, the first bottles were made at Messrs. 
Davidson's patent bottle works, Cowpen Quay. Sept. 8, 
telegraph laid feom Jutland to Newbiggin, by the scrow 
steamer Archimedes^ W. Tate, master, of Blyth. 

1869. Mar. 8, the Sisters, F. Horst, master, was lost 
at the West Indies. Master, mate, and four others, 
drowned. About this time two other Blyth vessels 
foundered with all hands, viz : the John Bunyan, Hugh 
Taggart, from Wales for lisbon ; and the Janes, S. 
CarHsle, from Blyth for Frederiekshaven. 

1862. On the forenoon of Thursday, the 16th of 
January, the huge cast iron beam of the pumping engine 
at Hartley Pit sunddenly snapped asunder, .and the 
ponderous piece of metal fell down the pit shaft, carry- 
ing along with it the timber by which the shaft was 
lined and the earth and stones which the timber sup- 
ported, and thus entirely blocked up the shaft of the 
pit. The first effect of this sad occurrence was that five 
men, who were in the act of coming up, were thrown 
out of the cage in which they were ascending and 
killed ; while three others, who were also in the cage, 
were able to hold on for five hours, and though a good 
deal injured were ultimately saved. 199 persons, men 
and boys, were in the lower workings of the pit at the 
time of the accident. Every effort which scientific skill 
could devise was immediately put forth in order to free 
the captives. For days and nights in succession the 
most energetic and unwearied exertions were made — 
viewers and pitmen vieing with each other, regardless 
of danger to themselves, in trying to render aid to the 
suffering. Her most gracious Majesty the Queen, amid 
her own sorrows, did not forget her humble suffering 
subjects, but sent a telegram from Osborne, intimating 
that she was " most anxious te hear that there were any 
hopes of saving the poor people in the pit, for whom her 



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APPENDIX. 243 

heart bleeds." Day succeeded day, and on the sixth 
after the accident, two adventurous men eflFected an en- 
trance into the gloomy cavern where death held carnival. 
Qn regaining the surface they agonizingly exclaimed, 
"The men are dead! — they are all dead! — ^there they 
lay, poor fellows, in rows : some of them reclining as if 
sleeping off a hard day's work!" Others were in a 
sitting posture, leaning against the wall ; some had laid 
their heads on the bosom of their fathers ; and brothers 
had crept together, as if their last moments had 
been spent in ministering consolation to each other. 
Of the large number in the mine not one has escaped 
from that ghastly sepulchre to teU the dismal story of 
the horrible imprisonment and lingering death : hence 
we know but little of what passed below. We know 
that the men make their way from the lower into the 
middle workings ; for in the latter their bodies were 
found. We know that they attempted to escape through 
the " furnace drift ; " for there saws and axes were lying, 
with their marks upon the obstructing beam. We know 
that they thought about their wives and children ; for 
upon a tin can is the aflPecting record scratched : " Fri- 
day. — My dear Sarah, I leave you." We know that 
they sought mercy ; for upon another can are discernible 
the words, " Mercy, God ! " And we know further 
that some of the number survived until Sunday , for on 
that day the last "jowlings," or signal noises, were 
heard by the men working in the shaft. We know that 
all perished from the poisoning gas : we know all this ; 
but we know no more. How they met their end ; what 
were their feelings while they helplessly perished, almost 
within hail of wives and children, brothers and sisters, 
can now never be known in time. The English public, 
with characteristic benevolence, has contributed nobly 
to the relief of the widows and orphans, and other 

r2 

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244 HISTORY OF BLYTH. 

dependents of the slain. The subscription was the 
largest ever known for a similar purpose ; and not till 
the announcement was published that more than enough 
had been collected for the permanent benefit of the 
survivors did money cease to flow into the treasurer's 
hands. 

The following is an abstract of the Balance Sheet of 
the Eelief Fund, from February 29th, 1868, to February 
29th, 1869 :— 

Allowances to Widows, Orphans, &c £3064 10 6 

Education 246 6 9 

Medical attendance 86 2 

Outfit for Chndren 34 

Allowances in respect of Deaths 7 

Marriage Portions 80 

Secretary's salary, and other items 146 

Interest on Banking Account 6 2 3 

Balance of Fund Invested 49888 1 2 

Number of Eecipients : — Widows, 45 ; children of 
widows, 184 ; adults, 28 ; children of adults, 9. Total 
—266. 

It is to be regretted that the Parish Books of the last 
century have not been preserved, as they would have 
been useful in various ways, in elucidating the history 
of the town ; from other sources I have obtained some 
items of information about Poor Eate. In 1725, 
Edward Alder is paid 8s. 4d. for a year's poor cess ; 
1731, John Elliott is paid 16s. 8d. for a year's poor cess, 
for the 8 pans. The number of pans had been doubled 
by those brought from Cullercoats in 1727. In 1761, 
J. Pearson receives the sum of £1 6s. 8d., for a year's 
poor cess, for the salt pans ; paid the same for F. Bar- 
row's farm 13s.: this small sum for the farm is inexplic- 
able. 1769, Joseph Duxfield is paid for a year's poor 
oess £1 ; all these items show that up to thin period the 



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APPENDIX. 245 

poor rate had been extremely light, but in the course 
of the next 34 years, a change for the worse had 
taken place. 

The earliest rate book that has come into my hand is 
one containing a rate made November 2nd, 1803. It 
contains the names of 160 ratepayers, and the rateable 
value amounts to £2376, and the rate is 9d. in the £ 
for 3 months. John Dolmahoy, who died in October, 
1869, was then a ratepayer, and has thus been a house- 
holder for 66 years. On the 7th February, 1804, a 
public meeting was held at Mr. Sheraton's, Star and 
Garter Inn, the result of which we give in the very odd 
form in which it appears in the rate book. "It is 
agreed by the undersigned, that a general valuation is 
to be made concerning the poor rates, to have a valua- 
tion upon all lands, tenements, and hereditaments, that 
is liable to pay the contribution of the poor in the town- 
ship of South Blyth and Newsham. And it is farther 
agreed by the imdersigned, that Mr. Fryer, of New- 
castle, is approved on to value the tovniship of Blyth 
and Newsham. Signed by James Watson, Henry 
Wilson, Eobert Potts, Greorge Duxfield, Adam Morri- 
son, Luke Brown, William Chapman, Cuthbert Forster, 
WUliam Sheraton." The first four of these were farm- 
ers, and the other five were tradesmen. The result of 
the new valuation was to increase the rateable value of 
the township to £3046, or about 29 per cent., the 
increase being chiefly on the land. Till this valuation 
the tithes had not been rated, and still it did not reach 
all property legally liable to be rated. The railway, 
staith, quays, harbour dues, and workmen's houses still 
went scot free ; more than a quarter of a century passing 
before these properties were made to contribute their 
share to the poor's rate. 

In 1804, the names of 73 persons appear as in receipt 



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248 HISTORY OF BLTTH. 

of parochial reUef, at the oost of £95 a quarter, hesidea 
£7 9s. 4<L paid to Mr. Mason of Newcastle, who at that 
time kept a private poor's house, and farmed the poor of 
several parishes. Blyth for many years kept that por- 
tion of its poor, that required the accommodation of. a 
workhouse, in the private workhouse at Newcastle. 
Feb. 1804, there is paid to Geo. Duxfield £2 17s., for a 
half-year's county rate, and for church cess for Earsdon, 
£1 188. 9d. 

The church rate was never levied upon the ratepayers 
of Blyth as a special rate, it was originally charged upon 
the farms in the township, but had by some means been 
put upon the poor rate. It continued to be paid from 
this source till the new poor law came into operation in 
1836. From that time it was smuggled into the high- 
way accounts, in the form of *' Extra Team," till 1859, 
when it was objected to by a ratepayer, at the Petty 
Sessions, at Tynemouth, and disallowed; from that 
period the township ceased to pay church cess. 

Notwithstanding the increase of the rateable value of 
the township in 1804, in a short time the rate went up 
to Is. in the £, many families beiog thrown on the 
parish by the war then raging. Numbers of our seamen 
were either detained in a French prison, or torn from 
their home and made to serve in a ship of war, exposed 
to all the hazards of storm and battle — ^for £1 12s. 6d. 
a month; while if they had been allowed the liberty en- 
joyed by all other British working men, they could 
have earned for the support of their families from £8 to 
£10 a voyage. The rates never fell below Is. until 1854, 
and in 1836 they amoimted to Is. 6d. in the £ : the 
Cholera having just visited Blyth, causing much addi- 
tional expense to the Township. By this time the 
Phoenix Benefit Society had very materially reduced 
the number of applicants for parochial relief, and has 



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APPENDIX. 247 

ever since greatly lessened the pressure of the poor rate, a 
fact that should be borne in mind by those whose means 
\\[ould enable them to render aid to that noble institution. 
To enable the reader to understand to what purposes 
the poor's rate is applied, we give a copy of the state- 
ment of the accoimt rendered by the Ghiardians to the 
Overseers of the Poor of the Township of Blyth and 
Newsham,' for the half-year ending Lady Day, 1869 — 

Contribution to Common Fund £382 7 5 

Instalment of Workhouse Loan 5 

County Rate 69 7 9 

County Police Rate 47 7 8 

Nuisance removal 1 3 10 

The three last items show that our township contri- 
butes for Coimty and Police purposes, at the rate of 
£216 per annum. 

On the 5th of May, 1859, the Vestry passed a resolu- 
tion authorising the Burial Board to borrow a sum of 
£2000 from the Public Works Loan Commissioners, for 
the laying out the grounds of the Cemetery, and erecting 
the necessary buildings, on security of the fature poor's 
rate of the township. The sum actually borrowed was 
£2500, of which amount the overseers have paid to the 
Burial Board £2000 — ^this will have paid the interest 
and about one-half of the principal ; the obKgations of 
the Burial Board, and their requirements from the town- 
ship being correspondingly diminished. It will thus be 
seen that the poor's rate is a convenient means of raising 
funds for various public purposes other than the relief 
of the poor. 

At the Election of 1832, for the southern division of 
the county, (the first after the passing of the Eefonn 
Bill) the candidates were T. W. Beaumont and Wm. 
Ord, on the liberal side, and Matthew Bell, on the con- 
servative interest; thirty-two Blyth electors voted on 
the oocassion, nearly all of whom had been enfranchised 



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248 HISTORY OF BLYTS. 

by the Eeform Bill. Of these twenty split upon Beau- 
mont and Ord, three split upon Bell and Ord, one split 
upon Bell and Beaumont, one plumped for Ord, and 
eleven plimiped for Bell. At the same election sixty-two 
electors for Oowpen voted as follows : — sixteen split on 
Beaumont and Ord, five on Bell and Ord, eleven on 
Beaumont and Bell, and thirty plumped for Bell. 
Beaumont and Bell were returned — ^the numbers 
were, Beaumont, 2537— Bell, 2441— and Ord 2351. 
At the contested election of 1852, W. B. Beaumont and 
Q-eorge Ridley were the liberal candidates, and Henry 
G. Ldddell was the conservative candidate. Of the 
electors for Blyth, fifteen plumped for LiddeU, four split 
on Beaumont and Eidley, five split on Ridley and 
Liddell, and six did not vote. Of the electors for Cow- 
pen thirty-three plumped for Liddell, thirty-six split on 
Beaumont and Ridley, five split on Beaumont and 
Liddell, four between Ridley and Liddell, and twenty- 
five did not vote. Beaumont polled 2306 — ^LiddeU, 
2132— and Ridley 2033. 

So large a portion of the town of Blyth being situate 
in the township of Oowpen, appears to require that before 
concluding this book, we should briefly summarize its 
history. 

The village of Oowpen is very ancient, having been a 
place of some importance in Saxon times, when it ob- 
tained its name from a kind of fair having been held 
there, where the rude trade of the times was conducted 
(in the absence of money) by "couping," or bartering, 
ox exchanging one commodity for another. It does not 
appear to have been the residence of any great family in 
feudal times. "Oupim," in 1240, was accounted a 
manor in the barony of Bolam, the lords of which place 
prior to that time, but by deeds without date, had 
granted various possessions here to the canons of Brink- 



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APPENDIX. 249 

bum. James de Bolam granted them a salt pan in 
*'Cupun," of which they had charters of confirmation 
by Gilbert and Walter de Bolam, as well as the Bishop 
of Durham. Eoger Fitz Hugh made them one, and 
John Fitz Hugh two grants of land here, one of which 
was confirmed to them by Walter de Bolam ; and King 
John in 1201 granted them "lands between the salt 
works and the way which led from the Cup- well to the 
mill at Cupim." 

Shortly before the lion-hearted Eichard departed for 
Palestine, on the third crusade, (1190) he granted to the 
monks serving Grod in the Church of St. Oswin's, a 
general confirmation of their then extensive possessions, 
among which was the village of Copun. We give the 
Charter, as it brings out sundry antiquated, but doubt- 
less valuable reliques of Anglo-Saxon jurisprudence. 

"Eichard, by the grace of Grod, King of England. 
Be it made known unto you, that we have granted by 
our present Charter, confirmed unto God, and the church 
of St. Oswin, of Tynemouth, and the Monks of St. 
Alban's, there serving God, all their men, and all their 
lands, and all their possessions, that is to say [several 
properties are then named, including " half of the vill 
of Copun"]. All these we grant to the monks afore- 
Baid, with rents and homages, with meadows and 
pastures, with woods and tiirharies* and all other things 
to the said vills pertaining; with sac^ and bocX on 
stronde or stream, on wonde and felde; with 'toF and 
theam. Gridhurh^ Hamsoc7ia,\\ tod the money which 
pertaineth to murder ; forestal, danegeld^ infangthef** 

* Turbaries. The places where turf is dug ia waste lands.— f ^^- The 
privilege enjoyed by the lord of the manor of holding courts, trying 
causes, and imposing fines.— J Soo. Liberty or privilege of tenants 
excused from all customary burdens.— § Gridburh. Keeping the peace 
of the town. — |J Bamaocna. Protection from assault or disturbance in 
a man's house.— ^ Danegeld, Money paid for every hide of land by the 



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250 HISTORY OF BL YTH. 

bhodirytha,ff wrec, and cornage.Xt^^ The royal grantor 
added all liberties and free customs which kings oonld 
have power to grant, or make more free, to any chnrch. 
Brinkbum and Tjnemouth had each Salt Works in 
Cupun. Salt Works at a remote period of onr hLstory 
were sources of great wealth. In 1307, Tynemouth had 
a pardon for acquiring four tofts and seventy acres of 
land in Cupen, without a license of mortmain. Cowpen, 
during the domination of the see of Bome over this 
kingdom, did not, however, exclusively belong to the 
Monks — John and Eoger de Widdrington. in the time 
of Edward the third, made a settlement of property 
in Cowpen. 27th Aug., 1402, John Eogers and Mar- 
garet his wife, daughter and heir of John SlikeboiTi, 
conveyed to Mr. 'Johnson, of Newcastle, a messuage in 
" Copen." In 1536, WiUiam Grreen, the collector of 
fEirms for the Monks, doth answer for 100s., for the tithe 
of Cowpen ; but not for the 20s., for the tithe of grain 
in Newsum. The Prior and Convent of Tynemouth, 
by indenture, dated 24th June, 1530, leased to John 
Preston and Nicholas Mitford, to farm a Coal Pit with 
two " lez pigges," lying in the fields of Bebside and 
Cowpen for seven years, at the yearly rent of 22s. and 
8d., payable equally on the feast of St. Oswin, in Lent, 
and on St. Oswin's day in harvest. After the dissolu- 
tion of the monastery of Tynemouth, its possessions were 
leased to Sir J. Hilton, at the annual rent to the 
crown of £163 Is. 5d. ; and was made for 21 years. 
The first year he farmed, Cowpen paid 63. 8d. for the 
fines of brewers for the assize of bread and ale, as had 

Saxons to the Danes, by way of tribnfe.— ♦♦ Infangthef, Right to take a 
thief and judge him if taken on their own manor. — ft Bloodwytha, 
Cognizance for blood shedding : amercement for bloodshed. -Xt Oornage. 
"Man^ lands in the north of England were h^Jd by the tenure of Comage : 
that is, the tenant was bound to wind a bom, to give notice to the king's 
lieges of the approach of the ^:cottish invaders. 



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APPENDIX. 251 

been paid by the inhabitants there for many years past. 
At this period we have rents of tenants at Cowpen — 
John Eobeyson, the bailiflf there, accounts for 52s. 4d. 
for the rents of the following freeholders, to wit : — ^the 
heirs of John Preston, Greorge Harbottel, the heirs of 
Roger Hardyng, John Fenwick, Gawin Midforth, Tho- 
mas Eobeyson, Christopher Bell, the heirs of Har- 
bottel, and Ealph Witherington : and for £7 5s. 8d. for 
the rent of 22 copyholders, each holding a tenement or 
cottage, with arable land, meadow and pasture for oxen, 
horses and sheep, in the common pasture, in various 
quantities and at different rents : and for 33s. 4d. for 
the farm of a windmill at Cowpen :' and for £4 10s. for 
the farm of two salt pans, with a coal pit leased by the 
abbot to Eichard Benson, and for the' farm of two salt 
pans and a coal pit held by Cuthbert Eobeyson, at the 
king's pleasure. 

At the Eeformation we jfind 22 copyholders on the 
lands of the monastery of Tynemouth : these would be 
the descendants of the villans of a former age, who be- 
longed to the monks. By the charter of Eichard I, he 
gave the men along with lands. The services the villans 
would have to render would be somthing like the follow- 
ing : each of these had a tenement or cottage, with 
arable land, meadow and pasture, &c., in various 
quantities and at different rents : they had had these 
holdings, when in a state of villanage, to provide for 
the daily wants of their families, for which they had to 
render certain services to the abbot. If the arable land 
amounted to 30 acres the villan would pay 2s. rent, 6d. 
for soot-pennies, haK a chalder of oats, 16d. for over- 
pennies, lead five wood lades, provide 2 hens and 10 eggs ; 
and perform three days' work for the abbot every week 
(excepting one week in Easter and at Pentecost), and 
thirteen days at Christmas ; perform so many portions 



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252 mSTORY OF BLYTH. 

of mowing in harvest, with all his family except the 
housewife ; plough and harrow three roods of avereve ; 
and for each caracute of land in their tenure the tenants 
in villanage shall plough and harrow two acres, and are 
quit from all further work that week ; and in the course 
of their work they harrow and (if need be) make cart 
loads, and during the latter service they receive each a 
loaf of bread. 

Cottagers were in a somewhat better position ; they 
had learned some handicraft, such as joiner or smith. 
They held a certain number of acres, and worked two 
days a week for the abbot the year round (except the 
holidays), and provided 12 hens and 60 eggs. The 
pimder had land (attached to his office), and a thrave 
of com for every draught, and paid 80 hens and 500 eggs. 
The whole tenantry in viUanage had to give their share 
of certain dues, as comage, size of bread and ale, &c. 

The question arises. What has become of these copy 
holders 9 They must have formed a large portion oi 
the inhabitants, as 22 were only those upon the half ot 
Cowpen; Brinkbum had the other half, and probably 
had as many copyholders as Tynemouth ; this numbei 
added to the nine freeholders then in Cowpen, without 
counting any for the Brinkbum property, makes the 
number of families in the possession of land amount to 31. 
The process of the larger landowners buying up the 
propertieb of the smaller ones has been going on in Cow- 
pen, as it has been doing all over England, till there is 
not half a dozen landowners in the township. 

Till 1619 the lands were all open and inconveniently 
intermixed ; but on Nov. 15th in that year the several 
proprietors entered into articles with each other to make 
an equal division in severalty of the township, pro- 
portionably to every one's right ; and for that purpose 
employed William Matthews, a skilful surveyor. The 



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APPENDIX. 



263 



parties to the articles for dividing the township in 1610 
were, Sir Ealph Delaval, Eobert Widdrington, Lewis 
Widdrington, Tristram Fenwick (for himself and chil- 
dren, heirs to Magdalen, their mother, deceased), 
Martin Fenwick, John Preston the elder, and John 
Preston the younger, William Storey, and Eobert 
Smith. All these old names have vanished out 
of the rentals. In a will made by one of the Widdring- 
tons, of Choppington, dated January 8th, 1589, among 
other bequests, 

" I give, after the death of my mother, to Ralph Wallis, my servant, my 
farmholds in Cowpen daring his life ; also, I give him m)" bay mares." 

In the Will of Robert Widdrington, of Wearmouth, dated August 29th, 
1598, he says, "Heave to my wife, Elizabeth, the house, demayne, and 
farmhold in Monkwearmouth,*for her life, and (if she cannot enjoy it free 
of all trouble and encumbrance) my salt works in Qowpen shall be chargea 
to pay her £100 yearly." In the Inventory of his property, he has at Cow- 
pen three salt pans, £40; five oxen £7 10s.; 120 thraveof rye £18; teu 
score thrave of oats £12; the half of a coal keel. Thus it appears the 
Widdringtons held propert)-- in Cowpen for a very long period. Robert 
Delaval and John Preston, of Cowpen, gentlemen, were both summoned to 
the assizes at Newcastle in 1628, and in the same year the viscountal rent 
for this place was 13s. 4d. And the sheriff accounted into exchequer for a 
rent of £4 for Cowpen coal mine; for £2 for a saltpan, from Thomas 
Bates ; and £3 for two other salt pans In Cowpen. In 166S, the proprietors 
were Sir Francis Bowes, Robert Preston, Sir Thomas Widdrington, Mr, 
John Proctor, John Smith, Mr. William Widdrington of Burnhill, Mr. John 
Fenwick of Deanman, Robert Preston, Jun., and Cuthbert Watson. Thomas 
Preston, John Richardson, Jacob Russel, and Cuthbert Watson, voted for 
freeholders in Cowpen at the election for Northumberland in 1748. The 
rental for county rate in Ccfwpen in 1663 was £308 ; in 1829, £4,716 ; at 
present not less than £14,000 ! 

The following are the names of the Four-and-twenty, 
who met at Horton, on Easter Tuesday, April 12, 1726 : 



William Simcoe, vicar 
Thomas Skipsey 
Cuthbert Watson 
Christopher Jubb 
Robert Rowell 
Ralph Atkinson 
Stephen Bruiss 
Edward Shotton 



Thomas Purviss 
Robert Nicholson 
Thomas Rowell 
John Rowell 
Thomas Mavin 
Cuthbert Ogle 
William Reed 
John Barker 



Henry Johnson 
Robert Swan 
Alexander Carnes 
John Dixon 
John Bowry 
Henry Pigg 
James Grav 
Roger BeU' 



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254 mSTORY OF BLYTE. 

Cuthbert "Watson, Esq., of Cowpen, and William 
Heed, Esq., of Hartford, were the two chief men in the 
parish; the other names are those chiefly of fanners. I 
am not aware that there is a single male descendent of 
any one of the above Four-and-twenty now living in 
the parish. 

It was not until 1737, that the several townships of 
the parish of Horton each began to keep its own poor. 
Previous to that period the poor were kept out of a cess 
levied upon each of the townships, not upon the rental, 
but a fixed sum, as follows : — Horton £2 6s. 3d. ; West 
Hartford 7s. 6d. ; East Hartford 4s. 6d. ; Bebside lis. 
6d. ; Cowpen £1 10s. Od. ; Tythes 2s. 6d. ; Total 
£5 2s. 3d. When the Four-and-Twenty met at Hor- 
ton, on Easter Tuesday, the Churchwardens were 
authorised to levy on the several townships one cess, or 
one and a half, and in some cases two cesses for the 
requirements of the year. 

" Horton,Easter Tuesday, 1735. — ^It is this day agreed 
by the Minister and Four-and-Twenty, or a majority of 
them, that Mrs. Mary Johnson, as an inhabitant of this 
parish, shall for the future pay for the maintenance of the 
poor,the sum of sixpence a- week for her house and gardens, 
in the parish, signed John Watson, curate." This Mrs. 
Johnson would be ths proprietor and occupant of Bebside 
Hall ; whether Mrs. Johnson had resisted the payment 
of the amoimt laid upon her house and gardens we 
cannot say, but the next year (March 6th, 1736) there 
is a memorandum of an agreement made, and published 
in the church " That the township of Horton, from this 
day, made a separation of themselves from the rest of 
the constabularies in the parish, in relation to the main- 
tenance of the poor, and are not disposed to take in, or 
maintain any poor, after this day, but which falls upon 
this township." 



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APPENDIX. 255 

April 12th, 1737. The township of West Hartford 
constabulary, in the parish of Horton, do likewise agree 
from the date hereof, to declare ourselves separate for 
the future from the parish, in maintaining our poor, and 
will not take any poor but such as shall hereafter become 
chargeable to us by law.*' 

April 12th. " I, Alexander Games, constable of East 
Hartford, do for my constabulary declare the same as 
above." "I, Thomas Skipsey, constable for Cowpen 
township, do declare the same as above." 

This statement of the breaking up of the parish of 
Horton into separate townships for the administration 
of the Poor Law, furnishes the best account of how such 
matters were effected that I have met with. The rate- 
payers at that time took a course directly the opposite 
of the centralizing system now in vogue. 

The Crofts hold 800 acres, about one-half of the town- 
ship of Cowpen, and the same as Sir Francis Bowes held 
in 1663. It is in this portion of the township that such 
great improvements have been made in the last eighty 
years. The way was opened to effect those improve- 
ments, by an act of parliament obtained in 1784, to 
empower Margaret Bowes, spinster. Lieutenant-colonel 
Thomas Thoroton, and Anne, his wife, to grant leases 
of their settled estates, in Northumberland, &c. 

Through the powers conferred by this act, Cowpen 
Quay was built, and the slake was enclosed, and filled 
up ; and leases of portions of the lands in Cowpen, were 
granted for three Kves, with a perpetual right of renewal, 
on paying a fine of £5, for each life. The houses at 
Crofton, Waterloo, Cowpen Quay, &c. were all built on 
these renewable leases imtil 1856, when another act of 
parKament was procured, by which the lands and here- 
ditaments formerly of Margaret Bowes, the testatrix 
of 1755, and Alice Wanley, testatrix of 1772. 



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256 BISTORT OF BLYTH. 

were vested in Edward Thoroton, of the Inner Temple, 
London, Esq., and George Arthnr Hutton Croft, of 
Hutton Bushell, in the county of York, Esq., upon trust 
to lease, sell, or dispose thereof, subject to the provisions 
of the act. Latterly building sites have been bought on a 
freehold tenure, and the former leaseholders have had 
the option of enfranchisement on moderate terms. . 

A correct notion may be formed of the extent of the 
improvements that have been effected in the township 
of Cowpen since the Act of 1784, if we consider that 
outside the village at that time there was nothing but 
the half-dozen farmsteads that still remain, Buckshill, 
and the two or three houses that are still standing inside 
Cowpen Square. All the other buildings in the town- 
ship have been erected since then. The township was 
paying, in 1736, £1 10s. per annum for the relief of the 
poor, and is now paying to the Ghiardians of the poor 
for the Tynemouth Union the sum of £1,000 a year. 
The tithes that amounted to 100s. in 1536, now amount 
to £292, viz. :— Duke of Northumberland, £135 ; "W. 
H. M. Sidney, Esq,, £124; Eev. M. Mangin, small 
tithes, £33. 




Printed at the Offices of J. Robinson, Jan., Ifo, 17, Freehold-street, Blyth. 



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^TB>-N-5\un.v^n 



3^arfaarti College iibrars 




FROM THE GIFT OF 



WILLIAM ENDICOTT. Jr. 

(Claas of m?) 
OF BOSTON